Canaan Reunited
by FlutterdashForever
Summary: Just this once Canaan thinks she has a hold on Alphard (or her jacket) and meets her in Shanghai using it as a bargaining chip. What she doesn't know is that Alphard has other plans for her completely...partial silliness and slightly AU (most of the characters aren't dead :p), Alphard/Canaan
1. Chapter 1

(Okay, this is a kind-of sequel to Alphard's return. requested so I gave it a go :) Still in progress. And no I don't know why Canaan is a tsundere in my mind o.o

Also sort of AU, because Liang Qi isn't dead, and Alphard has both arms still :p just assume that most of the characters are still alive.

Rating may change. R&R? :D)

* * *

The phone in Canaan's hand buzzed and she reached for it instinctively as she stood outside the museum, waiting patiently. Her synesthesia had brought her all the way here, far into the heart of Shanghai, away from her friends and all she might have called family. Since then, Maria and Mino had returned to Japan and Yun-Yun wasn't too far away when the time came.

Right now, it was for the best. Canaan knew who she was dealing with right now. At least, she _hoped_ she did.

Her heart leapt when she reached for the call button, and then sank again when she realised who it was.

"Canaan?"

Not Alphard. She crushed the rising disappointment rising in her and quickly amended her tone, touching the dark coat draped around her arms.

"Maria, is that you?" Canaan said concernedly. "Where are you?" If she'd come all the way after her, that was going to complicate things.

The reporter's voice came over soft, pained. "Canaan, I'm worried. Are you really going to be all right out there by your own? With...with her?"

"Of course," she replied, struggling to keep her voice from shaking. "I'll be fine. I always am. Maria, are you...?"

The line crackled for a moment, and Canaan held her breath, nervous that her friend might have followed her all the way after all.

"No," Maria answered at last. "I trust you, Canaan. I just keep thinking that you're going to get hurt again, like last time. Promise me you won't do anything drastic?"

Canaan felt the reassuring presence of the Beretta at her waist. "I can still take her down. Anytime I want." The words didn't seem to ring true in her ears, though.

"What if it's a trap? What if she's just drawing you in, like - "

"I'm fine," Canaan lied again. "I know exactly what I'm doing. Please, Maria," she said gently, "just wait for me back home. I'll be back before you know it."

She terminated the call a few minutes later, keeping her synesthesia on just in case. She couldn't detect Maria's colour for several miles in any direction, so the reporter really hadn't followed her after all. That was a relief. Because Canaan didn't want anyone around when she made contact with Alphard again. It was a harrowing and emotive moment for her.

* * *

The phone came to life in her hand about ten seconds after the first call and Canaan grabbed at it as if it were her life-blood.

"Hello, Canaan," the silky voice whispered, music to her ears.

Her heart plunged again. _Keep calm. You've got a hold on her this time._

"Alphard," she said defiantly. "I've got - "

"I know. You've got something of mine."

"Yes," she said in rising confidence. "And if you want it back then you'll do exactly as I say."

There was a strange contorted sound at the end of the line. Canaan waited patiently in silent irritation. _She had better not be laughing at me again._

"Are you really doing this?" Alphard said with a wry chuckle.

"Yes!"

"You're going to use my _jacket_ as a bargaining chip."

Canaan's face burned even though she was pretty sure her rival couldn't see her. It wasn't often she had something over Alphard. Really, she had to make do with she'd got.

"You left it behind last time," she said stiffly. Yes, last time when Alphard had handcuffed to the railing in the train car and – no. Stop thinking about it. "So if you want it back - "

"I left it behind deliberately," Alphard said.

Canaan stopped speaking, her mouth slightly open in mid-sentence.

"_Why?"_ she exploded.

"Just to drive you crazy and make you yearn for me and want to come back," the leader of the Snakes answered with a half-yawn. "Why else?"

Was it possible to hear her smirk over the _phone_? Canaan wondered. Was it? Because it was what she was definitely doing now.

"Well," Canaan said stubbornly, refusing to give in, "it didn't do you any good. You're probably feeling really cold about now."

"Am I," the older girl remarked with a laugh. "So it's not like I brought along a spare and wearing that instead until you come running back to me with my old jacket."

Canaan found herself at a loss for words again. Why did she constantly say the one thing which made her even angrier? Frustrated, she hit the wall with her fist without thinking and hurt her hand.

"Shut _up!_" she yelled into the phone. "Just listen. If you want your jacket back, then be here at the museum in Shanghai at 4pm before - "

"Whatever," Alphard said lightly in a bored tone. "I know where it is. You're standing right in front of it." That smirk again. "I can see you from here."

She _what?_ Canaan as she raged inside. Is she _stalking_ me? And why can't I see her at all? She hit the wall with her other fist.

"You'll hurt your hand that way," Alphard commented mildly.

"Is this your idea of a hobby?!" Canaan exploded. "Do you just stalk and spy on people any time you like?"

"People? No. Just you." Alphard sighed on the other end of the line and laughed again. "It's pretty fun watching you get so worked up over something you thought _you_ planned - "

"Stop it! Just. Stop. It." The silver-haired girl felt like she wanted to scream. Why did she keep doing this to her? "It doesn't matter. Outside the museum, right now, or you can say goodbye to your fancy little jacket!"

"I already told you I've got a new one by now," Alphard explained. "You can keep that one. You probably sleep with it anyway."

"Are you even listening to me?" Canaan hollered into the phone. "And, besides, you _haven't_ won. I can trace your phoneline from this call!"

"Well, maybe," Alphard said wryly, "except that it's not mine."

"And then I can - " Canaan felt herself jolted off the rails again. "What?"

"I borrowed it from my sister. She was ever so grateful to lend it to me for some reason."

"You're using Liang Qi's phone," Canaan said numbly.

"Yes," Alphard said brightly. "So if you want to ever call me maybe, you'll wind up talking to her. And I _really_ don't advise doing that, judging by all the things she wants to do to you."

Canaan stamped her foot angrily. So she _didn't_ have a hold over her rival after all. This was getting worse and worse. She refused to let go of the situation.

"Do you want your jacket back or not?" she demanded.

"Not really."

"Well I'll be _waiting_ here – right here – outside the - "

"I can already see you from here," Alphard sighed. "I told you that already."

" - and if you _want _it back, then you'd better be here!" Canaan spluttered, clenching her sore hands into balled-up fists. "And that's an _end_ to it!"

She dropped her arms to her sides, breathing in and out deeply. The nerve of that woman. She'd even gone to lengths to adopt the same hairstyle as her and if she wasn't going to be here to see it -

Alphard's voice echoed out of the speaker a moment later. "You forgot to press the button to terminate the call," she said cheerfully.

"AAARGHH!" Canaan threw the phone across the street from her in frustration. She was not going to let Alphard get to her anytime longer. If she had to stand outside the museum all day, _carrying_ her stupid jacket, then so be it.

She touched it gently, feeling the insides where it had touched Alphard hours before. It had her smell, her feel, even her colours...

"Snap out of it, Canaan," she muttered to herself, and lined it neatly back over her arms again, cradling it gently.

Fuming, she leaned back against the wall of the museum to wait.


	2. Chapter 2

(Okay, I want to say thank you to whoever reviewed my first chapter because I have really low motivation and really need feedback/reviews to continue the things I write...so because of that I was able to continue just a bit longer. There's still more, so if anyone can review this chapter no matter how short, that would be really great! Just to keep my motivation up to write :)

Alsoooo...if I do keep this up long enough then the rating may change. :p judging where Alphard and Canaan are going anyway. Just a heads-up if later on you're searching for it and you need to adjust the filter to M or something.)

* * *

Time passed in silence for about twenty minutes. The hustle and bustle of people going in and out of the museum went on as normal throughout the afternoon whilst Canaan waited patiently with her temper tightly under control. Things were not going exactly as she'd planned, but she had never been very good at thinking things through. Natsume often said as much when she gave Canaan her assignments.

Was Alphard ever going to turn up? Had she already left long ago? Or was she watching her from a distance, getting her kicks out of seeing Canaan chasing her and -

A pair of strong, familiar arms cradled around her neck from behind her. Canaan didn't need to turn around to know who it was. She could smell her, reach out to touch her, just like she had done so with that same jacket, stroking every inch of it. Of course, she was more used to those arms being used to lightly choke her, rather than being affectionate.

"You took your time," she said self-consciously, trying to ignore the feeling of those arms against her own skin.

Alphard smiled and moved one hand down the back of Canaan's hair softly. "You were fun to watch. Plus..." She breathed against Canaan's ear slowly, making sure the silver-haired girl felt it. "I got a few pictures out of it."

_Wha-?_ Canaan tried to say, but next thing she knew her ex-partner had snaked one arm around her waist tightly and was pulling her along into the museum. She tried to protest, but fighting here would draw too much attention. This isn't fair, she thought. She's supposed to be where _I_ want her, not the other way round.

Without releasing her grip, Alphard held out her other hand towards Canaan. "Jacket," she said in a tone of voice that demanded no argument.

Reluctantly, Canaan handed it over. She felt her resistance crumbling with every step she walked next to her, but it didn't seem to matter.

"I thought you brought a spare?" she muttered, as Alphard slipped it back on.

The leader of the Snakes uncurled her arm for a second to slip her hands securely through the sleeves. "I never said I brought it with me." She reasserted her hold around Canaan and pecked her on the cheek playfully. "Let's go for a walk."

"A _walk?_" Canaan spluttered, stumbling as she was dragged along. She pulled at the arm around her waist, but her heart didn't seem to be in it.

Alphard smirked. "Or a date. You can call it that. We'll be leaving this place in a moment." Her eyes flickered towards the balconies up to the left and right. "On that note, try not to escape right now. There are five snipers aiming at you from above your head."

_What?_

Canaan dug her fingernails into Alphard's arm and brought the two of them to a sudden halt. This was going too fast for her liking.

"_Snipers?_" she repeated.

"Yes," Alphard said calmly. "My guess is that Natsume hired them after all this Borner business had finished. Then again, I have a lot of enemies."

Canaan blinked for a few times before she could concentrate long enough to bring her synesthesia into focus. Three, four...five figures of blue standing casually on the balcony. Blue, the colour of killing intent.

"They haven't shot yet," she stated.

"No."

"Is there a reason they haven't shot you down yet?"

"Yes," Alphard said with a small smile. "It's because right now they might hit you and Natsume is trying to avoid that."

"You're _using_ me to get past a load of snipers who want to kill you?" Canaan said hotly. "If you'd just let me go in first I could have picked them out one by one and taken care of them for you! "

The older woman smiled warmly at her and Canaan felt the arm around her waist move up to her neck with a jolt. "You'd do that for me?" she said slyly.

"No – I – " Canaan fought against her own instincts as Alphard leaned in closely to her. Feeling her this close, her breath on her skin, her lips rising in to meet her. "Stop this!" she said loudly. "I am not going to do this with half a dozen sniper rifles trained in on us. This isn't my kind of date!"

"Really? Tough. It's the only kind I do." Alphard brought her face closer until their skin were mere inches away. "And I could have taken those snipers before you even got here. But I thought I'd do something special for you."

Canaan tried to back away. She was far too close for comfort. "How does _this_ qualify as "special"?" she said. "What comes next, making out hanging with one hand from a helicopter whilst terrorists try to gun us down?"

"That could easily be arranged," Alphard said with a chuckle. "Don't change the subject. Think about _now._"

She moved in hard against Canaan's body and pinned her easily against the wall of the museum. Canaan tried to push her back with her hands for a second but her senses soon failed her as Alphard clamped her mouth against hers, tongue moving down hungrily in a dominating kiss which wiped out all fear and caution. She felt Alphard's hands clasp down on hers, the terrorist's knee coming up to open her legs up for her, insistent predatory eyes burning into her own. She squeezed back with what little strength she did have, her legs turning to jelly.

Alphard's hand stroked down her hair and back, her other hand scratching down between Canaan's breasts even whilst she deepened the kiss and moved her tongue back inside. Her arms squeezed around her waist and slowly broke off the kiss, leaving a trickle of saliva motioning from her upper lip, prompting a gasp from Canaan's mouth as her eyes pleaded for her -

Then she was wrenched off her feet again as Alphard released her and pulled her towards the double doors at the end of the hall. Dazed, she stumbled along and clinging to the taller girl's arm, confused about what exactly was going on here.

"Why did you _stop?_" she managed, when she finally caught her breath.

Alphard sighed. "It got boring with just a few guns trained on us. This is a date, isn't it? I'll take you somewhere more exciting."

The two of them made it through the doors and out onto the street again. The scene here was much the same as the main entrance, just crowds of people breezing past them without a care in the world. Canaan tested her synesthesia for a moment – they were out of danger. No one was aiming a gun at them, unless the snipers were going to come after them.

Then she realised what Alphard had just said. "More _exciting?_" she exclaimed. "You mean, more dangerous."

"Yeah," Alphard said, sounding disappointed. "I'm sure you get bored easily." She tugged at her arm insistently. "This way."

"Why can't we just go to a _café_ or something?" Canaan complained. "Or a hotel? Wouldn't that be better?"

Alphard stopped in mid-step abruptly and stared at her for a moment with that mystical smile. Then she pulled her arm in sharply towards her, her arm gripping the back of her neck, and kissed her on the mouth hard. Canaan's knees buckled underneath her for a second and she felt like she was going to fall. _Fine,_ she thought numbly, _anything you want is fine..._

As suddenly as she had started it, Alphard pulled her mouth from hers, tasting her saliva and drool with a look of satisfaction.

"Café it is, then," she said with a shrug as if nothing had happened. "Or hotel. Your call this time, Canaan."


	3. Chapter 3

(Whoever keeps giving me anonymous guest reviews (if you're even the same person), I don't know who you are (and wish you'd tell me) but you're a lifesaver. I want to hug you to death and give you chocolate and cake. I wouldn't even write this otherwise. And it makes me feel so happy inside 3

Now I can feel this story stretching out more. I might even need to plan further chapters in advance...hmm...that way I won't lose heart. Also, I wrote this at work at the same time of my other stuff. Tehee.)

Strawberry-sprinkled coffee tasted bizarre in Canaan's mouth. It felt like a mix of coconut and wine, not that she'd ever been far enough out of it to try that either. In a way, it was sweet and serious combined in one, and she wasn't quite sure what to make of it.

Across from her, Alphard was sipping something that looked even more extreme, if that was even possible. The liquid in her cup was a murky bubbling colour, and it was starting to froth. Canaan wasn't sure she wanted to know what was in it.

At first, she'd been almost lost about which café they went to. Even though Canaan had been doing assignments for Natsume in Shanghai for the past few years, she usually operated alone. Usually, she focused on what was important, like advantageous viewpoints to take down her target, or the amount of cover from gunfire. Not places to take a girl out.

_What am I doing here again?_ she wondered. And how had it come to this? If Alphard was just playing her again…

"How's the coffee?" Alphard said calmly, watching her with the ghost of a smile. "I ordered it specially for you."

_I bet you did,_ Canaan thought darkly. "Thanks," she muttered, trying to at least sound grateful as she swallowed it down.

The two of them didn't say anything for several moments then, just concentrating on their drinks. Canaan avoided Alphard's gaze, quickly staring down into the strange blend of strawberry and coffee in front of her. Her mind had frozen up all at once. What did people do on dates anyway?

_What do I do? What do I say? _Canaan started to panic, staring at her coffee harder until she felt tears build up in the corners of her eyes. _I've never been asked out before. Except by Maria, and that was _very_ different. What do I do with Alphard? Does she expect me to kiss her? Even though we already _did_ that?_ She gripped the sides of her chair tightly, trying to calm herself. _Maybe she wants me to do it again?_

The waitress passed by their table, holding up a tray of extra drinks. "Are you two enjoying yourselves?" she said brightly.

"Yes, thank you," Alphard said curtly, making it clear that the depth of her friendliness was currently limited to one person at the moment. "We can manage."

Canaan nodded automatically, then looked up at her coffee frowned. The waitress looked familiar for some reason. Jumpy quirky attitude, constantly moving about, two circle hoops of hair on either side –

"_Yun-Yun?_" she said in disbelief.

Yun-Yun jumped and almost dropped the tray. "Huh? Canaan?" she exclaimed. "Oh. Yeah! Um. Of course you're Canaan. I knew that. It's great to see you!" She turned around and her eyes widened as they settled on Alphard. "Aaaiiieeeee! You! You you you you you YOU!" Her finger pointed at Alphard, then flicked to Canaan, then back again. "You've kidnapped Canaan! Maria was right!" Alphard raised an eyebrow. "Maria?"

Yun-Yun quickly clamped her hands over her mouth, momentarily forgetting that she was trying to hold the tray of drinks at the same time. It hit the floor with a crash and coffee spilled everywhere.

"I didn't say that! I didn't say that!" She held her hands up as Canaan looked at her doubtfully, and then began flailing them all over the place, her eyes darting here and there from Alphard to the spilt coffee, as if at a loss at to which was more dangerous. "Noooo! It didn't happen! Alphard isn't here, she hasn't kidnapped Canaan, I didn't drop the coffee, Maria didn't tell me to follow you- "

Canaan stood up so fast that she almost knocked her own bizarre coffee concoction over. "Excuse us for a second," she said quickly to Alphard, and then dragged Yun-Yun over to the corner at the end of the café, all too aware of Alphard's eyes at her back.

"What is going on?" she demanded of the Borner, pinning her up against the wall. "What are you _doing_ here? Is Maria telling you to stalk me as well?" She had enough to worry about without _Alphard_ stalking her…

Yun-Yun's eyes opened wide again. "No! Nonononono," she blabbered. "I just work here. I work in a lot of places!"

"And you just _happen_ to be working as a waitress in the café that me and Alphard go to!" Canaan said accusingly.

Yun-Yun held her chin up with a lofty air, her mouth dropping into a sulky pout. "I've been working here for weeks," she claimed.

"You were working as a piano cleaner last Tuesday. And before that, a clown assistant. And a…a _singer._" Canaan shut her eyes at the terrible memory of that last one. "Answer me. Has Maria told you to keep an eye on me?"

Yun-Yun continued to avoid her gaze, muttering illegible garble under her breath about spilt coffee and the lack of meat buns around to stuff her bra with.

"Maybe," she said eventually.

Canaan let go of her, bringing one hand up to her brow. _I don't believe this, _she thought. _This is just what I don't need. _But Maria was just looking out for her. She cared about her, cared about her a lot more than most people. Her best friend.

Her face softened just thinking about her. Being with Maria gave her a feeling of peace and tranquillity which she didn't feel anywhere else. Being with Alphard tended to piss her off all the time for some reason, but in a good way. If that made sense.

"Yun-Yun," she said gently, "I'm glad that Maria is so concerned about me, but it's different now. I'm doing fine. I am in compete control of the situation and Alphard has _not_ kidnapped me." Well, I let her kidnap me because I liked it, she thought darkly. "Just…just stay out of her way and serve the drinks as usual, okay? I don't think she's going to shoot you or anything."

"You don't _think?_" the Borner said shrilly. She put her hands on her hips and stared at her. "If she hasn't kidnapped you then what are you doing with her? Having dinner?"

Canaan chewed her lip and avoided her gaze. It didn't work. "Yeah," she said lamely. "We're having dinner."

"But she's a terrorist."

"Yeah," Canaan admitted.

"She's the leader of the Snakes."

"I know."

"You _hate_ each other."

"It's more a love-hate relationship right now," Canaan muttered, her face going red.

For several seconds Yun-Yun just stared at her in shock. She blinked, her eyes going from Canaan's body language to the way her hands were clasped out in front of her nervously, to her frequent glances to Alphard back at the table.

"Oh my god," Yun-Yun breathed, taking a step back.

"It's not what you think," Canaan said quickly.

"You are _dating_ one of the most ruthless terrorists in the world, someone who murders people for a living – "

"I murder people for a living too."

Yun-Yun wasn't done, her voice coming out in a series of splutters. " – and almost killed the President of the USA, and – and – and _experimented_ on my entire village when they released that virus into – "

"Now wait just a second there." Canaan held up her hands quickly. "I don't think that was her fault. That was more her sister being evil and sadistic. She was more interested in going after me instead."

"Well…" Yun-Yun looked pained. "She's still a _terrorist_. She takes delight in blowing up buildings and threatening people and ruining people's lives."

Canaan cleared her throat uncomfortably. "Yeah…I was going to talk to her about that at some point."

"_How_ does any of this make for a healthy relationship?"

"I'm working on it. I'm working on it." Canaan took a deep breath and tried to compose herself. "Look. It's only one date at the moment. We haven't even talked yet. All I'm asking is that you _don't_ _interfere._" She placed her hands on Yun-Yun's shoulders, staring into her eyes pleadingly. "Please? Can you promise me that you aren't going to interfere?"

Yun-Yun looked back at her with an expression resembling sympathy.

"I'll try," she said doubtfully.

Canaan decided that was probably best for now. "Good," she said heavily. "Now if you excuse me, I have to get back to my _date._"

She walked back to Alphard's table, her mind racing. Yun-Yun being here couldn't be good. This was not going to end well. Surely nothing else could go wrong.

(Second part of the date in the next chapter! :D)


	4. Chapter 4

It was mystifying to Canaan how some people could spend hours sipping a drink at one of these so-called social occasions and pretending to be busy at the same time. Where her strawberry-coated coffee was concerned, two sips was about her limit. Nevertheless, she attempted to give it a go, if only to avoid Alphard's gaze. _Don't encourage her to ask about Yun-Yun. Or Borners. Or the Ua Virus. Or Maria. Especially Maria._

Alphard hadn't looked up since she'd sat back down at the table, and without studying her closely Canaan had no way of working out what she was thinking. She didn't know how to read people's emotions by their body language. That was what synesthesia was for. Maria had tried teaching her the basics lately, but Canaan still hadn't gotten the hang of it.

She focused her synesthesia on Alphard intently. Just as long as it wasn't that same colour which she never recognised and could never identify, she'd be fine-

Oh, great. It was that colour again. A shift of red and pale marigold, mixed in with a shade of light brown. The last one was Siam's colour, that much she knew. But many colours? So was Alphard feeling more than one thing at once? It was still a mystery to her, but Canaan had definitely noticed that Alphard only showed these colours in her presence. Towards everyone else, she was a definite blue.

"So, how's your friend?" Alphard said without warning, leaning over the table towards her, the strands of her dark hair at the front settling around the curves of her cheeks.

Canaan choked on her coffee in a series of audible splutters, still caught up in her own thoughts. She gurgled for a moment and went into a coughing fit as she tried to reply. Concerned, Alphard reached over to help, but the synesthete waved her away quickly as she tried to catch her breath.

"Sorry," she gasped after several more seconds, "the sprinkles went up my nose. I'll be fine." She took several deep breaths, wiping her mouth self-consciously, and then felt something else move. "I...I think I need a tissue..."

She grabbed around in the wrong direction as Alphard quickly gave her her napkin. Gratefully, Canaan held it to her face and sneezed dramatically. Awkwardly, she offered the napkin back, and then realised Alphard might not want it back anymore, and then started to panic as she was caught between the two things.

"Relax," Alphard said gently, placing a hand on Canaan's arm. She laughed lightly, not maliciously or tauntingly, but with genuine kindness. "Let's just stay away from the coffee for now."

Canaan realised her arm had gone rigid where the older woman had just touched her. Determinedly, she tried to relax. Just being in the same room with Alphard could stress her out. They were just talking, after all. They didn't need to do anything else. Whatever they were going to do, anyway.

I am _never_ drinking coffee again, she vowed. This is the first time that coffee has made me sneeze, and it isn't exactly romantic.

"What do you want to talk about?" she said, still not letting her guard down. Her voice shook as she spoke. "There were snipers at the gallery. Natsume will be sending more people after you right now. And you're just going to sit here drinking coffee?"

Alphard shrugged, not seeming to care. "When they come, they come. And you know that neither of us are going to die. Let's not think about that." She lifted her face to look directly at Canaan, cupping her chin in the palm of her hand. "You want to know what to talk about?" she whispered. "Why don't we talk about...you?"

Staring into each others eyes at this range from each side of the table, Canaan felt her eyelashes flutter as if caught by the wind for a second. Her eyes were taken for a moment, the savage beauty of Alphard's face hitting her in a rush. That wasn't the only thing, either. It was if she could feel Alphard's heart beating so close to her own body, the blood pumping beneath her skin, just the connection between the two of them that brought them together right now.

Impulsively, she touched Alphard's arm gently just as the other girl had done to hers. She kept her eyes on Alphard's face and watched the faint ripple across her skin along with the barely visible tremor between her lips. An unconscious intake of breath, responding to her touch.

She pressed the tips of her fingers against Alphard's clothes and saw a different expression in her eyes, opening in ways she hadn't comprehended before. Canaan blinked in recognition slowly, yet not understanding. The smile on Alphard's face was still there, but it seemed forced more than anything.

"Alphard?" she said softly. "Why are you so...sad?"

The leader of the Snakes laughed easily, feeling her hand around Canaan's arm just above the elbow. "You shouldn't use your synesthesia on me like that, Canaan."

Canaan blinked with a sadness of her own. "I'm..." Her voice faded to a cracked whisper. "I'm not using my synesthesia."

She felt Alphard's hand reach up and stroke her face tenderly, urgently, cupping the back of her neck. It wasn't possession, exactly. It was something that went deeper. And it hurt to know that Alphard could be feeling something like that, and that she couldn't make her feel better. At least, not yet.

"It's not like to let your guard down," Canaan said, wrapping an arm around her shoulder and neck to draw them closer. "Siam always said that."

Alphard didn't resist her touch, but her eyes darkened with bitterness and resentment. "Siam," she said numbly. Her eyes were moist against her skin. "He's dead, Canaan. I killed him. With these hands."

"I know."

"I don't regret it for a second. If he came back, I'd do it again."

"I know," Canaan said again.

Alphard's face against her skin became more agitated, although her voice was still controlled. "I killed your _light._ To further my own ambition. To benefit myself." She pushed her face against Canaan's, their skin touching. "Why...why are you doing this? You used to hate me." Her voice rose in emotion, her breathing more erratic. "_Why don't you hate me?_"

Canaan reached out with two fingers, pressing them against Alphard's lips gently, holding her face in her hands. She could feel a tear rolling down her cheek. And to her surprise, she understood. What it was like to be Alphard, what it was like to constantly be in that position, what it was like to force out her own life after what had happened after the second Canaan -

"Because I know why you did it," she said. "Siam was right. You can't counter hatred with hatred." _It's not hatred I feel you from anymore. I can tell that without my synesthesia._ "And because I know who my light is right now."

She pressed her mouth against Alphard's and captured her in a soft succulent kiss which brought the heat shooting across her face. Maybe a little amateur-like, since she hadn't had much practice doing it first-hand, but that didn't matter to Canaan. Alphard thought she hated her. But she was past that now. That was all in the past. What mattered was now, and erasing the hurt from Alphard's heart. Alphard, who was still trapped in the past like before.

She felt Alphard tighten her hold around her, beginning to intensify her own kiss back, but Canaan was determined to give her own tongue dominance this time round. She brought her arm round, defiantly sucking down across Alphard's mouth and forcing her tongue down intensely -

Canaan felt a jolt of electricity whip through her as Alphard's other hand reached down inside her shirt towards her breast in mid-kiss. _What?_

No. Way. I am not letting her through this time.

Before Alphard could do any more damage, Canaan tore her lips away from her and dragged the older girl's hands away from her body. Not here, in the middle of the damn café.

There was a high-pitched shriek from the counter. "What are you two _doing?_"

Not whilst Yun-Yun was in the same room either. _Definitely_ not.

"What is your _problem?_" Canaan demanded, moving as far back as her chair would allow. "I try to help you, and you just go all over me like - "

Alphard shook her head, her hair tumbling over the front of her face gracefully and managed a teasing smile. There remained some sadness in her eyes but she looked nowhere near as bad as Canaan had seen her a few minutes ago. Wordlessly, she beckoned with one hand to Canaan. For a moment Canaan didn't move, suspiciously thinking she would just try to go for her body again. But the look in Alphard's eyes persuaded her, and slowly she moved back to the table.

Then the dark-haired woman reached out to draw her close with one arm and kissed her on the forehead, whispering just three words in her ear:

"Thank you, Canaan."

(Wow, I actually did something emotional in this chapter. It wasn't going to be, it was going to be Yun-Yun spoiling everything :p but yeah.

Psst, this is far from over btw. I have some other stuff planned for when they leave the cafe, so keep reading!)


	5. Chapter 5

(Okay, so I'm getting favourites and reviews now so my motivation is going to last quite a bit longer now. Thanks to everyone :)

here I'm not sure why it turned out the way it did, actually I planned for Natsume to turn up and try and shoot Alphard but she didn't :p)

* * *

Canaan blinked away emotions and tears, staring up at Alphard for a moment. Then she shook her head stubbornly, moving her tongue around inside her mouth. "You taste of that stupid coffee."

"I'm sorry," Alphard said with a radiant smile.

"It was like the coffee I sneezed up but worse. It was like whatever you were drinking. It was like the two of them _mixed together._"

"That's strange," replied Alphard, and sighed. "Because I tasted the exact same thing as you, and I'm pretty sure it was _amazing._" She kissed Canaan on the forehead again. "Do you know why I was sad?" she said seriously.

Canaan stared at her in disbelief, afraid she had got the whole thing wrong. "It wasn't because of Siam?"

"Only indirectly. But it was _you,_ Canaan." Alphard's eyes shone as their lips brushed against each other once more. "It was always you. Your hate and resentment towards me, your desire for revenge. Your feelings against my advances towards you." She sighed, her eyes growing steadily darker. "You were never going to let me in. And this isn't going to last."

Canaan's eyes narrowed as she reached up to touch the woman's dark hair. "Don't say that," she said with a sharp intake of breath. "Don't ever say that."

"It's all right, Canaan. It's just the truth." Abruptly, Alphard shut herself off from her, shaking off the silver-haired girl's hands all together. Her eyes became unfriendly and cold. "You just do what's right. In the end, I'm still a terrorist. We would never work out." She pushed the half-empty coffee cup away from her, pushing away everything. "Forget any of this ever happened. You should stay with your friend like always."

"My friend? You mean Maria?" Canaan didn't understand, but she could tell she was losing her. Frantically, she tried to get Alphard to open up again, closing her fingers around her again, but her face didn't respond this time. As if she had suddenly become untouchable. Her heart in her throat, Canaan tried to reassure her. "Maria and I, we don't - "

"I know about you two and what you don't do." Alphard didn't look at her. "You'd have a much better relationship with her than with me - "

"Alphard, stop. Just stop." Canaan squeezed her hand tightly and touched her cheek softly. Still no response. "Maria and I are _friends._ I don't even see her anymore most of the time, because I'm out doing Natsume's assignments. I live on my own independently from her." She could tell she wasn't getting through. "Alphard, will you just look at me?"

The leader of the Snakes cast her a withering look and snorted. "Friends. Yeah," she said. "I've heard that one before."

Canaan threw her hands up. "You're really upset about this? You're _jealous_ of Maria? Seriously?"

Alphard stiffened at that, her eyes flashing. "No. You've got that bit wrong. I'm not jealous of her, I just think she'd be more - "

"Liar. You're jealous."

"I am not!" Alphard stood up in her seat angrily. "I don't even care about what you do with her in your flat or - "

Canaan smirked. "Jealous jealous jealous jealous jealous - "

"Shut _up!_" Alphard growled, grabbing Canaan by the scruff of her neck and dragging her off the ground to her eye-level. "Just shut _up!_"

They glared at each other for a tense several seconds. It was like the tables had turned since the incident in the museum. Now it was Alphard getting all worked up over Canaan instead. It was a strange experience for her.

"For someone who's not jealous, you're making a really big deal over it," Canaan pointed out. "Are you going to put me down?"

"Yes, if you promise to stop calling me jealous."

"I'll stop calling you jealous if you stop pretending that you aren't jealous," Canaan shot back. "And I'll prove to you that Maria and I aren't an item." She took a deep breath, and then went on daringly, "I'll prove it to you right now without moving another step."

Alphard's stare burned into to her for a moment more, and then she shoved her down back into her seat and sat back down indignantly.

"Go ahead then," she said quietly. "Prove it."

Canaan rubbed her neck where Alphard had grasped her. It was a bit bruised, although she didn't mind. She'd achieved a victory here. Alphard was opening up to her again. Even though she was still new to interpreting emotions without synesthesia, she was beginning to realise just how much Alphard needed her. If the two of them walked away right now and never spoke again, Canaan would have Maria waiting for her back at home. Alphard had no one, no one at all. Well, she did have Liang Qi, but Canaan was fairly sure that that wasn't what she wanted.

"Fine then," she said, and turned around, raising her hand. "Yun-Yun!"

The mousey-haired Borner waitress walked over to their table nervously, casting worried glances at Alphard. She was taking care not to stray too close to her, as if fearful that she might be held at gun-point at any time now.

"What?" she said suspiciously. "Canaan, you said not to interfere, but if you're going to drag me into something - "

"I'm not going to drag you into anything, I'm just going to ask you a _question._" Canaan looked at Alphard, who was looking like she'd given up. "Yun-Yun, you've seen me and Maria together."

"Yes..." Yun-Yun said slowly.

"And Alphard thinks that me and Maria are going out. Intimately."

Yun-Yun peered at her with slanted eyes. "Yes..." she ventured.

"So will you _tell_ her," Canaan finished, "that we're _not_ like that? That Maria and I are not together?"

Yun-Yun's mouth dropped open in surprise. "You aren't?"

"Yes, we aren't," Canaan said impatiently.

"But I thought you were."

There was a deadly silence in which Alphard began to look at Canaan in a very dangerous fashion.

_"What?_" Canaan repeated slowly.

Yun-Yun cocked her head to one side. "You're saying that you and Maria aren't in love with each other."

"Of course we're not!"

"I swear you were though," Yun-Yun frowned. "All the times you had to save her life and rescue her - "

"She was in trouble," Canaan said defensively.

"And you always seem to be so close with each other - "

"That's in a purely friendship fashion!"

The Borner placed her hands to her temple contemplatively. "And then there was that time when the two of you held hands together and watched the sunset go down. It looked really sweet of you and you looked so happy when - "

Alphard turned her face away and stood up quickly, her face a mirror of pain. "I've heard enough," she snapped, pushing Yun-Yun out of her way uncaringly. "Just forget about me, Canaan. You deserve to have fun with your _Maria._"

"No! It's not what it sounds like!" Canaan desperately blocked Alphard's back with her body, not knowing what else to do. The way things were going, she was going to lose her again – this time for good. "All that was in the _past!_ Like everything before us!" She caught the dark-haired woman in a fierce embrace which Alphard didn't resist against, haunted eyes staring on past her. "Please, Alphard...please believe me. I'll do anything. I..." Her voice trembled. "I don't know how to lie to you."

They remained like that for some time, Alphard's body seeming cold and unwelcoming in her arms. Then Canaan felt something wet trail down her cheek and realised it was Alphard's tears, touching against her skin. And then she felt Alphard's arms strengthen around her neck and waist, returning the embrace in full, murmuring choked words into her ear whilst her hands stroked down her silver hair with emotive urgency.

"Canaan..." the leader of the Snakes whispered as their eyes met again.

"It's okay."

"No. It isn't okay. I don't trust anyone anymore." Her lips settled onto her wet cheek. "You've all I've got. I'm sorry, Canaan. If you stick by me, if you stay with me, you..." Alphard's voice broke for a second, and Canaan knew to move against her and hold her tightly, just to reassure her of her presence. "...It's just not what you'll want."

"You don't know what I want," Canaan retorted softly against her ear.

Alphard managed a laugh. "Being shot at all the time? Terrorism? The whole world against you? I can do it because aside from you I genuinely don't care what happens to everyone else." Her dark eyes twisted in confusion. "Why would you want to bear with all of that?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Canaan lips were gentle against her cheek. "Because you are my light. You have been for a long time." A smile played about her cheek. "And who do you think you're talking to right now? I'm not a spoilt little princess or a damsel in distress. I'm a mercenary and a bounty hunter. I kill people for a living. A few more people shooting at us won't keep me away from you."

They sank into each other's embrace once more for what seemed like an eternity. Canaan flicked her eyes open when she heard the sound of someone clearing their throats.

"So...um..." Yun-Yun said urgently, standing behind them and looking a little put-out.

Alphard detached herself from Canaan, grabbed Yun-Yun by her neck and shoved her against the wall angrily.

"Do you have something against the two of us?" she snarled.

"No...no..." Yun-Yun stammered, petrified.

"Do you think for a second I would _ever_ hurt Canaan?"

"No, no...I never said - "

"Do you have a _problem_ with two girls kissing in your café?" she demanded.

"No no no no! It's quite frequent!" the Borner babbled, looking as thought she might faint.

Satisfied, Alphard released her and Yun-Yun tumbled to the ground. The rest of the customers in the café looked thunderstruck at the whole display. Alphard ignored them and wrapped her arm around Canaan once more.

"I was only going to say you haven't paid for the coffee yet," Yun-Yun said faintly, slowly picking herself up.

Alphard hesitated. "Oh."

Canaan shot an accusing glance at the older woman. "I'll pay," she offered. Under her breath she muttered to Alphard, "When we get out of here, I am going to set some certain _boundaries_ for our relationship."

"Sorry," the leader of the Snakes said awkwardly. She sighed and hugged Canaan hard. "I'm not used to...doing this."

"Doing _what?_ Treating other people as human beings?"

"I'm treating them how I always used to be treated. But...I could change for you." She tucked her arm in with Canaan's and smiled. "I know this hasn't been the warmest date you've ever been on, but I can make it up to you - "

Canaan reached up and kissed her on the lips tenderly. "You're wrong," she said quietly. "It's the best date a girl could be on."

Alphard shook her head sadly. "I assaulted one of your friends, I cried over your shoulder without thinking about your feelings, and I accused you of seeing someone else. That's pretty bad for a first date. I thought of a way to make it a bit better."

Canaan raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Really? I'm a synesthete. How exactly are you going to impress me? Sex?"

There was a loud whirring sound from above them which grew louder and louder until it had almost drowned out all of their voices. It grew into a tremendous _chop-chop-chop_ sound which roared over the entire café until everyone inside had to cover their ears. In growing curiosity, Canaan threw open the doors to the café to see what was making all the racket -

_What the - ?_

Alphard leaned across the side of the doorway with a smile. "I'm going to take you home," she said. "In my helicopter."

* * *

(Going to introduce some more characters in the next chapter too. Trust Yun-Yun to spoil some of this one, but I love her really :3)


	6. Chapter 6

**(NaNoWriMo in a few more days! Since I'm taking part I thought, how am I going to continue writing this fanfic at the same time...but then I thought, maybe this fanfic can BE my NaNoWriMo entry. That way I'm forced to continue :p**

**Also, I'm re-watching the Canaan anime at the same time as this. Woohoo. Also, some strong language near the end of this chapter. Because of a certain character. Oh yes.)**

* * *

It was a few hours after Alphard had taken Canaan back to Maria's flat in Japan. Canaan's head was still spinning from the breathtaking experience of it all. It wasn't as if she'd never been in a helicopter before. But the thrill and excitement that ran through her as she shared a kiss with Alphard, miles above the minuscule cities below was something quite different. There was a timeless beauty in the moments they shared together, good or bad. Besides, nobody had ever offered to take Canaan home by _helicopter_ before.

When she'd sarcastically said back in the museum about making out hanging by the ladder of a helicopter by one arm, she didn't think Alphard would actually _do_ it. She was still completely unpredictable. The best Canaan could get with her was work out what she wouldn't do.

Maria had been a little surprised to see Canaan outside her flat, but Canaan didn't know who else to tell. Her head had been a crowded buzzing of thoughts, emotions and happiness. It wasn't something you could hold on for long. Part of her wanted to scream it from the top of the skyscrapers, but she had a feeling nobody would be really listening.

"Canaan, are you sure you're all right? You've been staring out the window for half an hour now."

Canaan closed her eyes partway with an expression of submissive bliss and sighed. The world around her seemed largely irrelevant. All she could see was one person right now.

Minoru whispered to Maria conspiratorially, "What's she doing?"

"Mino-san, isn't it obvious?" the blond camera-girl whispered back. "She's in love."

The reporter's eyebrows shot up into his fluff of messy brown hair. "In _love? _Is that...normal for a synesthete?"

"Sshh. It's her first time. She's probably still trying to deal with her feelings," Maria hissed. "And with Alphard of all people - "

"Alphard," Canaan said out loud blearily, and nodded her head onto the windowsill. "I miss her already."

Minoru looked at the two girls as if they were mad. "She's in love with _Alphard?_" he demanded loudly. "That psychotic terrorist woman who keeps trying to kill us? Is she out of her _mind?_"

"Sshh!" Maria said quickly. "Don't hurt her feelings. You mustn't judge Canaan's relationship choices."

The reporter turned up his nose with a sniff. "I should if they're this bad," he declared. Then his eyes lit up. "Then again...do you think she'll mind if I interview her about this and make a story out of it - "

"Minoru-san, that's really insensitive! They've only been on one date so far!"

"Yes," sighed Canaan. She seemed to be speaking at uncertain intervals, only reacting to specific words. "And it was fantastic."

Minoru looked rather dubious. "Why?" he asked uncertainly. "What did you do?"

The synesthete shrugged nonchalantly. "We went out for coffee."

"Well, there's nothing wrong with a bit of cof- "

"And then we both started crying, and then Yun-Yun turned up and dropped the next set of drinks, and then Alphard attacked Yun-Yun."

There was a bit of a tense silence at that.

Minoru looked at her sternly. "And that's your definition of the word "fantastic", then?" he said sourly.

Canaan sighed again. "I'm sorry I intruded on the two of you like this. But I'm not used to feeling these kinds of emotions all at once. I feel I have to let it out somehow, on someone. And they aren't negative feelings, so I don't think that they cause hurt."

"It's all right, Canaan," Maria said kind-heartedly, drawing her friend into a hug. "I'm really happy for you! I was just worried about you when you told me you were going to meet up with her again, so I called Yun-Yun just in case." She smiled brightly. "I mean, I know you can take care of yourself easily, but I feel I've never done anything for you and I hope Yun-Yun was of some help - "

"Kind of," Canaan replied. "She kind of implied halfway through that I was seeing you instead."

Maria reacted as if she had been slapped in the face.

"Yun-Yun thinks _we_ have been seeing each other?" she repeated.

"Yep."

"You and me?"

"Right."

Maria scrunched up her face distastefully. "But that's ridiculous."

"Wait a sec," Minoru intervened with a frown. "You two _don't_ have feelings for each other?"

The two girls turned around to face him, and as one, both shook their heads in a very definite fashion.

"Are you _sure_ you don't?"

They shook their heads again.

Minoru made a few notes on his notepad. He appeared to be scribbling out several pages. When he was done, he muttered under his breath something about the mixed signals of females.

"I'm sorry?" Canaan said indignantly. "Whatever made you think we somehow _were_ in love with each other?"

"We-ell..." Minoru looked like he was trying to choose his words carefully. "What about all the times when you get really intimate and touchy-feely with each other and - "

"But that doesn't mean anything! We're _friends!_" Canaan was beginning to realise why Alphard had seemed so upset earlier on. Did it really appear that way? Did everyone around them think that she and Maria were together?

"Maria, back me up here," she urged, seeing Minoru seemingly unconvinced.

Maria had a peculiar expression on her face. "I'm not even into girls," she muttered a bit uncomfortably.

"Exactly," Canaan said triumphantly. "So you see - "

"But now I'm beginning to doubt it." Maria turned her face to her friend, wide-eyed. "What if every time we touched each other...it was the touch of pure love...even though neither of us could have ever intended it this way..."

The silver-haired girl stared at her incredulously in complete and utter amazement.

"You are not doing this," she said at last. "You are not going to let _Minoru_ fool you into thinking you are secretly in love with me. It doesn't work that way."

"Maybe," Maria said thoughtfully, "but now I'm really confused."

Canaan felt like hitting her forehead on a brick wall. Yun-Yun thought she and Maria were together. Minoru thought she and Maria were together. And now even _Maria_ was beginning to confuse herself into thinking they were together.

"Let's just forget we ever had this conversation," she said guardedly.

Maria let out her breath in one go. "All right," she said reluctantly. "You and I were never meant to be, Canaan."

"That's because we never _were._"

"I shall miss you and the moments we shared together," the blonde-haired woman mourned dramatically.

"You can't miss me because I'm standing right beside you right now. And this is becoming really awkward." Canaan took a deep breath. Back to sanity, quickly. What had she been doing again? Oh yes...Alphard...

"What are you supposed to do after a date anyway?" she said, trying to gather her thoughts up again. Maybe try and plan her next action, only all she could think of was seeing Alphard again...

Minoru half-scowled, looking thoroughly displeased with the whole situation. "You really are going out with Alphard?" he said.

She nodded mutely, her mouth feeling drier than usual.

"Well," the reporter said, rubbing his hands. "First, you have to buy her some flowers - "

"She's not really that kind of girl."

"Right." Minoru paused for thought. "Poetry? Chocolates?"

"Chocolates wouldn't be _too_ bad..." Canaan mused, imagining the situation that might play out. But it sounded just a little too simple. _Boring,_ Alphard had said. Alphard wanted excitement and danger and action.

"What do terrorists like?" she said.

Maria and Minoru exchanged glances.

"Bombs?" Maria hazarded.

"It's decided then." Canaan clasped her hands together and spread them out on the windowsill. "I will give her a bomb."

"You can't give her a bomb on your next date!" Minoru said, sounding horrified.

"Alphard would probably love it," Maria said half-heartedly. "That's the kind of person she is."

Canaan brightened up considerably. "Maybe I should start off small. First, some hand grenades, then work my way up to bazookas and nuclear - "

"Do you see why I don't support this kind of relationship?" Minoru wailed. "Why can't the two of you just stick with sweet and fluffy?"

"Mino-san, I'm sure Canaan knows what she's doing," Maria said softly. "But Canaan, you don't even know when you'll see Alphard again. Especially as she's in hiding right now."

The silver-haired girl hung her head miserably. "I know," she said despairingly. "If I could only talk to her and fix up another date between us..."

"Don't you have her number?"

Canaan hesitated. "I do, but..."

"What's wrong?"

"I think it's Liang Qi's number."

The three of them considered this in silence for several moments.

"Well, that does it," Minoru declared. "Throw away that number forever, and then wander the streets of Shanghai hoping she bumps into you."

"Minoru! Stop that!" Maria said sharply. "Canaan, you know what Liang Qi is like, but maybe you could just ask on the phone to be put through to Alphard?..."

Canaan's eyes lit up. "You're right," she said gratefully. "That should work."

She pulled out her phone and keyed in the number that she'd got from Alphard's call earlier. It seemed a painstaking slow process. As she dialed the number, the three of them listened with baited breath.

Maybe, Canaan thought, maybe Liang Qi isn't at the other end. Maybe she's too busy and it'll get transferred to Cummings, or maybe Alphard herself...

Then the other end of the phone came into distinct audibility.

"Yes?"

No. That did not sound like Alphard.

Canaan cleared her throat nervously and adopted a defensive stance. "I want to speak to Alphard," she commanded.

There was a silence on the other end in which Minoru began to start biting his nails frantically.

"Who _is_ this?" the other person demanded. "Why would _you_ want to talk to _my dear sister?_"

Uh-oh. Shit. Canaan mouthed to Maria desperately, "What do I say?" but her friend seemed as lost as she was. No, I shouldn't say that I'm really Canaan and that I'm dating your sister. Don't say that. Say anything but that.

Her nerves failed at this time of all times.

"This is Canaan and I'm dating your sister," she snapped into the receiver.

The sound that came out the other end could be described as comparable to a catastrophic apoplexy of exploding syllables. Canaan held the phone well away from her ear.

"CANAAN!" Liang Qi screamed from the other end. "You fucking bitch, you touch my sister and I'll fucking have your insides ripped out from inside-out while you still _bleed!_ Stay the _fuck_ away from her!"

"Um..." Canaan said self-consciously. "If you could put me through..."

"You say one more word and you are _dead!_ I'm going to kill you so hard that, that when you die, you won't just be dead. No. You fucking bitch, you'll be _deader than dead._" The uncontrolled rage of obscenities paused to release the sound of heavy breathing. "I know where you _live,_ Canaan! I'm coming over _right now._ And then I'll burn the flesh from your body, and then I'll kill that bitch friend of yours, and her sister too if she's got one, and your brother - "

"I don't have a brother."

Liang Qi was past hearing her. "And when I'm finished with you you won't even be able to scream anymore." Her voice was shaking, trembling madly. "You _dare._ You dare to ring me up, with your stupid fucking synthesesese - " She was so angry that she couldn't pronounce the word and soon gave up. " - and you better say your prayers, because I'm coming over right now to _kill you all._" She licked her lips over the phone. "And then I will watch you _burn_, you bitch, and finally my dear sister will show love and respect for me beyond measure..."

Canaan sucked in her breath. "I wouldn't bet on that - "

The phone went dead. Minoru quickly grabbed it and tossed it as far away from them as possible in case it unexpectedly blew up in their faces or something.

"Aww," Canaan said sadly. "She _still_ didn't put me through to Alphard."


	7. Chapter 7

**(More strong language. You'll find out why c: )**

* * *

It was maybe half an hour later that the gunshots started. At first they were just far-off noises, lost in the night and easily mistaken for fireworks or people going crazy at a party in the block across the road. Then they slowly became louder, as if they were coming right towards them, as if guided by an unknown source.

Minoru became increasingly edgy and worried as the bangs grew louder right outside their window. They tried opening a window, but there was no sign of anyone outside, nothing that could be causing the gunshots.

"What's going on?" Maria said uneasily.

Canaan said nothing. She was in another world completely. Ringing up Liang Qi hadn't gotten her any closer to contacting Alphard. How were they going to see each other again? Warning bells began to ring in her ears. What if Alphard didn't _want_ to see her again? What if she still thought she wasn't good enough, or was secretly still jealous of Maria? Was that why she hadn't left Canaan any way to keep in touch with her?

A _chop-chop-chop_ sound caught their ears overhead, startling the two reporters. Minoru sprang to his feet in disgust.

"I'm going out to see what's making all this racket," he grumbled, and then disappeared out the front door of the flat.

The noise shook Canaan out of her reverie. It sounded _exactly_ like the sound of the helicopter that Alphard had taken her home in.

_Alphard? Is that you outside?_

She had to know. Her heart in her mouth, Canaan ran through the door after Minoru. The gunshots would make sense too. Danger followed Alphard like a moth followed fire.

"Canaan, where are you going?" Maria called after her, startled. Then she ran after the synesthete too, all three of them dashing outside for completely different reasons.

Canaan raced out to the open, standing on the balcony which overlooked the city below. They were five floors up, but she could clearly see what was going on. As soon as she appeared, all the shooting instantly came to a stop.

Minoru had made it out the door fast. He was standing in front of her fearfully with his hands raised above his head. He had every reason to be scared, and that was because there were four marine soldiers with automatic rifles aimed at him.

In fact, the entire _balcony_ around them was full of soldiers. They all snapped to attention when Canaan appeared, and then looked surprised to see Maria. The focus of their weapons shifted away from Minoru and towards Canaan.

Minoru slowly lowered his hands, aware that he wasn't the one with dozens of weapons aimed at him right now.

"What the hell?" he mouthed at Maria and Canaan.

Canaan shrugged and walked to the edge of the balcony. The guns followed her movements. None of the soldiers fired. None of them shouted at her to stop in her tracks, or made any threatening gestures towards her friends. It was if they were just there to keep her in check.

She looked down towards the ground floor, where the helicopter had landed. Her heart beat faster in her chest, looking down to see if it was Alphard who had come for her...

A figure stepped out of the helicopter, and pierced her with a look of pure hate. She was dressed in an assortment of black and blue colours, short hair curling up by the sides of her neck. Her hands were clawed into fists at her side, and even from this distance Canaan could see the harsh emotion etched against her skin.

She wasn't Alphard. She was a little bit shorter, and just a little bit more insane. She was not the kind of woman you wanted to come after you in the night.

Canaan had a pretty good idea who it was. When Liang Qi had threatened to come over to their house and kill them all, she hadn't realised she was being _serious..._

* * *

_"Canaan!_" Liang Qi screamed up from the ground. "Get down here and _fight me like a woman!"_

Canaan cast her gaze around the fifth-floor balcony and the dozens of soldiers who had their guns trained on her. She knew she could easily incapacitate every single one of them without much effort. She could also leap down those five floors right down and have a decent attempt at knocking Liang Qi out before she really did kill them all.

It was Minoru and Maria she was worried about, though. Liang Qi was the kind of person who would wind up using them in some kind of hostage situation. Of course, so was Alphard, but Canaan forced that unpleasant thought from her mind. It was her aim for her to change that. If she even saw Alphard again...

Canaan wondered why the soldiers around her – and yes, they all worked for Snake, she could see that close-up now – why they hadn't just escorted her down to the ground floor if Liang Qi wanted to fight her that badly. Maybe the woman just wasn't thinking rationally. It was a safe bet.

She leaned over the balcony and peered down towards Liang Qi. Yep, she was definitely pissed.

"Do I have to come down?" she called down to her.

Liang Qi held out her gun in front of her, aiming it at Canaan's head. "If I hear you mock me again, you pathetic bitch," she raged, "your beloved Alphard will have nothing left of you to love!" She clicked back the safety catch. "Get down here and fight me!"

"So...you're not going to shoot me?"

"Shut up! Shut UP!" Liang Qi fired and Canaan quickly dodged it, her synthesis kicking in. "I'm not going to fucking shout at you when you're standing all the way up there! _Get down here this fucking instant!"_

"You could come up here instead," Canaan suggested helpfully. "You're the one with the helicopter. It might be faster."

Liang Qi gave a howl and fired several more times, the shots going into the building framework around them. Minoru gave a muffled yell and quickly ducked into the doorway for cover.

"I'm only trying to help."

"Shut UP! I'll kill you, you fucking bitch. I'll kill you!" Liang Qi fired again, this time her aim completely askew, and almost hit one of her own soldiers. "No one touches my sister, my Alphard, my everything! I'm going to come up here, and then I'm going to - "

"So you _are_ coming up here?" Canaan frowned. "I'm confused. Do you want me to come down or not?"

"NO!" Liang Qi roared. There was a click ran out of ammunition and she quickly clawed at a second one from her belt. "You don't move a fucking step. You. Don't. Move. I'm coming up to kill you all." She fought to control her breathing and ran for the helicopter. "Cummings!" she yelled once she was inside.

The three of them waited patiently for the helicopter to ascend to the fifth floor. The Snake soldiers around them had stopped pointing their guns at Canaan for the time being. They looked rather bored and fed-up with the whole thing. She felt a little bit sorry for them, but not that sorry, considering what they did for a living the rest of the time.

As the helicopter drew level with them, with Liang Qi and Cummings inside it, the sound of the chopper blades was so loud that it drowned out whatever Liang Qi was yelling at them. The helicopter dipped down a little, as if looking for somewhere to land, but there was nowhere to set down in this block of flats. People were peering out their windows to look at the strange spectacle, then quickly hid back inside when they caught side of the armed soldiers outside their doors.

Eventually, Liang Qi gave up on trying to find somewhere to land the helicopter and opted to have it offering. They still couldn't hear her over the noise of the helicopter, so she was using a megaphone that Cummings had found her.

"CANAAN!" she hollered through the megaphone at last when she'd managed to make the helicopter level at last, her gun-hand trembling. "You listen to me." Her eyes blazed with fury at the mere sight of the synesthete. "Give my sister back or I'll fucking kill you!" Her gun shifted to Maria. "And her!" She caught sight of Minoru, who was gibbering in half-view. "And whoever he is!"

"Can we talk about this?" Canaan tried.

"No! I'm not going to fucking talk to you! You've taken her away from me!" Liang Qi looked ready to cry. "I worshipped her and would do anything for her, and now all she talks about it _you!_ It's Canaan this, Canaan that! _I can't fucking stand it anymore!_" She tried to fire the gun in a fit of rage, forgot the safety catch was still on, and then threw the gun at a soldier before grabbing another gun at her belt. "I'll put an end to you, right here, right _now!_ Then _she'll_ pay attention to me again. She'll have to!"

"She's not going to," Canaan said quietly, annoyance clouding her senses.

"What?" the terrorist shouted, unable to hear her over the roar of the helicopter blades.

"I said she's not _going_ to!" Canaan repeated, raising her voice. "If you kill me, she'll ignore you even more! She doesn't _care _about you in the first place!"

She regretted the words the instant they were out of her mouth. Liang Qi looked like she was about to go into a seizure.

"LIAR!" she screeched. "She has to! She's all I've got! And I'm all she'll ever _have!_" The gun trembled, and then pointed right at Canaan's face, too close to miss. "I'll destroy you and force her to love me! Die, Canaan!"

She fired and Canaan took the shot dead-on, shock registering on her features before she crumpled into a heap on the ground. Maria screamed and ran to her friend's side, and even Minoru ran from his cover fearfully. There was no response from the synesthete. Slowly, Maria looked up into Liang Qi's hateful eyes. The blonde camerawoman's face was pale with rage herself.

"You murderer!" she shouted. "You killed Canaan! Now Alphard will _never _love you!" She ran to the edge of the balcony defiantly. "Are you proud of it?"

Beside her, Cummings whispered something into Liang Qi's ear which made her face change. Whatever it was, the terrorist reacted as if she'd just been hit by a train and began to yell at him angrily before he held a radio headset to her ear. Her knuckles tightened and her eyes went wide at the sound. Then she hit him angrily and threw the gun down.

"Ow..." Canaan complained, sitting up blearily.

Minoru yelped and sprang back several paces, looking as if he might have a heart attack. "Canaan!" Maria cried in relief, reaching out to hold her. "Are you...? What happened? Are you hurt?"

Canaan held her face woozily for a moment and walked back to the edge of the balcony.

"You just shot me in the nose with a BB gun!" she shouted at Liang Qi angrily. "Don't _do _that!"

Liang Qi was red in the face from the last ten minutes. At least she wasn't holding a gun anymore. She still looked like she was about to blow yet another fuse, if such a thing was possible at her present emotional state.

"Alphard's sent word to me that I'm not to hurt you," she growled.

"What?" Canaan yelled above the helicopter blades.

"I said, Alphard says I can't hurt you!" Liang Qi hurled her gun at one of the soldiers on the balcony and he howled as it hit him in the shin. "I...I...she says I have to let you..." Her face was turning colour from getting the words out.

Cummings helpfully took over the megaphone. "Alphard-sama has guaranteed your safety," he explained. "Liang Qi-sama has been ordered not to hurt you in any way."

Canaan's heart started to beat faster. Just hearing a message from her could brighten her mood, even if the message wasn't to her specifically. "Where is Alphard right now?" she said hopefully. "Is there any way to contact her right n- "

Liang Qi wrestled the megaphone from Cummings and roared, "DIE IN HELL!"

Gently, Cummings laid a hand on her shoulder and whispered what looked like words of encouragement into her ear. Whatever it was, it seemed to calm her down a little. The terrorist muttered something back at him and then turned her back on everyone.

Cummings quickly took the megaphone back. "We don't know where Alphard-sama is at the moment," he said to Canaan. "She seems to have disappeared since...since this afternoon. Liang Qi-sama is most upset about this."

Canaan felt even more confused. Alphard had disappeared since their _date?_ Had something happened to her?

"You're damn right I'm upset!" Liang Qi hollered into the megaphone again. "And the first chance I get, I'll kill all of you a second time!"

"Whatever," Canaan said mutely.

"Can we go home now?" Cummings said hopefully.

"I hate _all_ of you! None of you understand." Liang Qi hit her heads on the door of the helicopter. "And Alphard! My sister...my dear sister...why are you _obstructing_ me? Why do you love her? _Why did you swap my real gun with a BB gun for the second week running? _Is this going to be a _thing_ now?"

Cummings glanced at Canaan and her friends, thin-lipped. "We'll be going now," he said gratefully. "Thanks for your help."

"No problem," Minoru said cheerfully.

Maria looked at Minoru. "You didn't even do anything," she said accusingly.

"I apologise for all the noise," Cummings added, looking truly sorry. "It won't happen again."

"That's all right," said Canaan pleasantly. "I just wish it had been Alphard in the helicopter and not - "

Liang Qi whirled around in her seat. "_What was that?"_ she hissed.

"Nothing," she said quickly.

Cummings nodded respectfully. "And I wish you all the best, Canaan, in your relationship with Alphard - "

"Stop TALKING to them!" Liang Qi yelled at him. "Stop trying to be NICE! Just get us out of here, I can't stand another minute with – with _her_ - "

"Rude," Canaan muttered under her breath.

"Yes, Liang Qi-sama," Cumming sighed. "All units, move out. Mobile Squad A, report to - "

"Never mind who they report to!" Liang Qi said shrilly. "Everyone can just go HOME!" She clawed at her head. "I fucking hate this world..."

Gradually, the helicopter began to descend and the noise receded at long last. The Snake soldiers around them muttered to themselves and began to file away out of the building. Minoru slowly looked around, as if half-expecting someone else to start firing at them as well.

He looked pointedly at Canaan. "Could you go home, too?" he said weakly. "We've had enough for one night."

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**(Psst, there's been a lack of Alphard lately but she'll be back next chapter.)**


	8. Chapter 8

**(A big thank you to everyone who's reviewed, followed and/or favourited so far! It means a lot to me. And NaNoWriMo starts in...ten minutes! I'm still continuing this as part of NaNoWriMo, and I'll see how far I can go :) Also, Halloween tonight. Full moon out. Love to you all.)**

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It was exhausting having to trail all the way back to her flat in Shanghai after all that had happened today, but Canaan's experience over the years had made her athletic enough that her high stamina level was nearly untarnished. It was more the emotional strain of it all that had affected her, and she had hoped to see Maria again in slightly more favourable circumstances.

A date with Alphard. Talking their feelings out together and making it all work out. Seeing Maria for the first time in months. Almost getting killed by Liang Qi. It was just a relief that the whole day was over at last.

Half-tired, she stepped back into the empty room in her flat where she had lived since the events of the past year had ended. Nothing fancy. A simple bed to sleep in, a sink for water, and her belongings scattered about the floor and windowsill. If she wanted to wash or eat, she had the outside world for that. Alphard or Maria would probably scoff at her simple way of living.

"Alphard," she called out longingly into the dry silence of the night, "where are you now?"

"That's just what I want to know," came a woman's steely voice from behind her.

Canaan whirled around, reaching for the Beretta at her waist as a tall Japanese woman stepped out of the shadows with a gun levelled directly at her forehead. Natsume Yuri looked almost as pleased to see her as Canaan did. Her eyes were cold and ruthless, an unmoving picture of ambition.

_Fantastic,_ Canaan thought. _Just what I need. I can't even go to bed without someone trying to kill me._

She was a bit surprised at why Natsume would want to kill her at first, but then remembered the events of this afternoon. Alphard evading her snipers. Alphard escaping her altogether, because of Canaan. So far, it seemed that Natsume hadn't wanted to harm Canaan because she was a valued professional who had a long-term contract with their company. But depending on just how much Natsume wanted to get rid of Alphard, that could soon change...

Canaan made a mental note to use her synesthesia before she went to bed every night from now on.

"What do you want?" she said wearily, although she already knew the answer. "I want to go to bed."

"Alphard," Natsume said quietly, her gun-hand quite steady. "My sources finally tracked her down today. It wasn't easy finding her. And when they did – they couldn't take her down." Her facial muscles tightened. "Because _you_ were in the way."

Canaan tried to look vaguely apologetic, but she had never been in conveying emotions to Natsume when Natsume didn't really convey much emotion back to her in return.

"Sorry," she said bluntly, trying to sound like it.

"You have worked with us for many years, Canaan," Natsume said, as if she hadn't spoken at all. "You should be aware that Alphard is, and has always been, one of our top priorities. You were reported as..._liaising _with her in a non-aggressive fashion. You were the last one to be seen with her. And shortly afterwards, she vanished – without a trace." The gun barrel lifted a notch. "And so it is that I find myself asking you, the most likely suspect..." Natsume's eyes narrowed. "Where is she, Canaan?"

Canaan shrugged.

"You expect me to believe that you don't know?" The gun relaxed slightly, but not too much. "Wake up, Canaan. You were with one of the most dangerous terrorists that this world has ever seen. This isn't a game." Natsume took a step forward towards her. "And this is no time to be childish. Why did you meet with her today?"

"I'm not being childish," Canaan protested. "I just..." She had a feeling that going into the finer details might not be the most tactful thing to do when dealing with Natsume. Maybe go into what was _less _personal. Her face brightened. "I had a ride in her helicopter!"

Natsume paused. "What?" she snapped.

"She took me home in her helicopter," Canaan said. "Whilst hanging from the ladder."

The Japanese woman closed her eyes and gritted her teeth as if trying to decide who to hit first.

"I will ask this again," she said, thin-lipped. "Your meeting with Alphard. What did you _discuss?_ Did she hire you out for a new target? Did she talk business with you? Did she engage with you in the affairs of Snake? What did she talk to you about?"

Canaan's eyelashes fluttered. "Oh, it was definitely business," she said forwardly. "Just not the kind of business you'd think."

"Would you care to elaborate on that?"

"No," Canaan said, her tone hardening.

Natsume's voice grew suspicious. "I beg your pardon?" she said icily.

"No. No, I wouldn't," Canaan said with rising confidence. "I don't see why I should talk to you about my personal life when all you do is want to kill her."

"Why are you protecting her?" Natsume said, completely confused. "The two of you are rivals. You hate each other." Her muscles tightened under her skin as she became more agitated. "What lucrative deal has she made with you that you would actually want to _protect_ her? Tell me, Canaan!"

Canaan thought about this. "It's quite a lucrative deal," she said warmly. "But it's less about money and more about how you feel about another person."

A cold silence filled the air. Canaan had a feeling that she hadn't really got her point across. But for some reason she didn't want to tell Natsume straight out that she and Alphard had actually gone out on a date. The woman had quite a hostile atmosphere about her right now.

She tried again. "Let's say...you know how Liang Qi is obsessed with Alphard? Imagine if Alphard actually loved her back, and the two were in love with each other, and then imagine I'm Liang Qi."

Natsume looked even more confused.

"What's this got to do with this lucrative deal between the two of you?" she demanded. "Are you saying that you're pretending to be _Liang Qi?_"

"That's not what I mea- "

"If you are pretending to be Liang Qi," Natsume went on, her eyes glittering, "then that means you take over her position of the company, and that you own all the market shares invested in the company...and..." Her eyes went wide. "And you are in charge of all Snake operations under her! Why would Alphard - "

"No!" Canaan shouted. "That's not what I meant. I'm trying to say that Alphard and I are in fact - "

Natsume took another step forward. "Which means that, as far as the hierarchy in the organisation goes, you are now Alphard's right-hand woman! You have been appointed her second-in-command, as the one she trusts the most!"

Canaan hesitated.

"Yeah," she said painfully, "the "trust" bit is probably correct, but I'm not - "

"And that means you have become one of the most powerful and dangerous people in all of Snake!" Natsume raised the gun again with hardened resolve. "Which means I cannot let you live!"

"I think you may be jumping to conclusions here," Canaan said quickly. "If you could just forget the metaphor when I said I was Liang Qi - "

She ducked just as Natsume fired the gun and made a hole in the opposite wall. There was barely enough time to engage her synesthesia, but it was enough. Natsume's colour was blue. Killing intent. Well, she didn't need synesthesia to tell her that.

Natsume was usually quite calm and logical about these things. It wasn't like her to just go out and threaten her like that, even if it was just to get at Alphard. Then again, she was always deadly serious about what she said. Maybe I should have tried to be a bit more serious too, Canaan thought. But she probably wouldn't have believed me either way.

She reached for the Beretta at her side as another bullet whizzed overhead and embedded itself just above her bed. Then she paused - she didn't really want to kill Natsume. The woman was her employer, after all, and if they could just clear up this misunderstanding -

"Natsume! Stop this!" she yelled over the next shot.

To her surprise, the shooting stopped immediately, although Canaan could still hear Natsume tensing to fire again.

"I am _not_ working for Alphard or Snake," Canaan said with a tinge of irritation. "I'm working for _you._"

Natsume didn't sound convinced. "Then what were you doing with Alphard today?" she demanded. "You said you were doing business!"

"That was a joke!" Canaan inwardly felt part of her melt at the Japanese woman's sense of humour. "Not _that_ kind of business!"

"What other kind of business _is_ there?" Natsume shouted back. "You're not making any sense, Canaan!"

Canaan hit herself in the forehead. Oh, for crying out loud...

"It's a personal relationship!" she yelled out, feeling her cheeks redden as she said it. She _really_ didn't want to tell this to Natsume of all people. "It was a _date!_"

In the ensuing silence, Canaan quickly tried counting to ten. It wasn't working. She had no idea how Natsume would react to that. Maybe she might really want to kill her then. Maybe she'd go after the two of them. Maybe...

Natsume's tone didn't change. "What kind of date?" she said.

"Do you not _get it?_" Canaan felt like shaking her, and would have if the other woman wasn't about to try to put a bullet in her. "We went _out!_ On a date!" She frantically tried to spell it out for her. "Love! Relationships! Romance! _Am I getting through?_"

"But that doesn't make any sense! What was the date about?" Natsume sounded genuinely confused now.

Canaan gave up. She slumped against the foot of her bed, exhausted.

"You know what? Forget it," she snapped. "We didn't go on a date. I pretended to be Liang Qi. I am the new second-in-command of Snake. I AM the new Liang Qi. I don't even care anymore."

"A-HA!" Natsume shouted triumphantly. "I _knew_ it!" She cocked the gun back to shoot at her once more. "In that case, I was right all along and you cannot be allowed to live as long - "

Her sentence was cut off suddenly as a black shape darted out from underneath the bed and slugged her in the stomach. Natsume made an _oof_ sound and sprawled out on the floor unconscious as the shadow hit her again. The gun dropped from her hands and the mysterious shadow picked it up.

As the shadow turned around, Canaan's mouth dropped.

_"Alphard?_"

The leader of the Snakes dusted off her hands professionally, stretching out her legs. "It's cramped under your bed, Canaan." She tossed back her dark hair and grabbed hold of the synesthete's arm. "Come on! We need to leave quickly before she wakes up."

Canaan shook off her grip, still dazed. "Wha - ? Wh..." She blinked and pinched herself on both arms. "Alphard, that _is_ you, right?"

"Yes," the older woman said impatiently.

"Did you just punch Natsume? Were you hiding under my _bed?_" She jumped to her feet in outrage. "_Everyone_ is looking for you because you went missing and you were hiding under my bed _the entire time?_"

"I'll explain later," Alphard said, tugging at her arm. "It's a long story. Natsume has men outside waiting for me to come out and we need to get out of here before she calls for back-up." She pulled at her hair and cupped the back of her neck possessively. "Are you _listening_ to me, Canaan?"

"Listening? Huh? Yeah." Canaan took a deep breath, her mind finally accepting that this was all real. Alphard was in front of her, holding her. She was real. She'd knocked out Natsume and Natsume thought Canaan was a terrorist now and now they were going to run away together and..._wait what? _"I don't understand any of this!" she wailed.

"That's why I said I'll explain later!" Alphard said, pushing her towards the window. "Come on! This way!"

As they scrambled out towards the ground level, something Alphard had said registered in Canaan's mind. She clung to it for a split second, but she had to ask.

"Alphard..."

"What is it, Canaan?" The dark-haired woman was still dragging her behind with her, her wrist clamped down on her arm tightly.

"You said "we". "We" need to get out of here." She smiled inside of her. "Not "you"."

Alphard sighed. "Because you've been dragged into this with me now. Because now you're a terrorist too. Because..." She looked at the synesthete and the words died on her lips.

"Because Natsume thinks I'm Liang Qi?" Canaan guessed jokingly.

Alphard laughed. "Not how I'd end it. I was going to say...because you're mine." She hugged her as they hit the ground in a tight crouch and reached out as if to kiss her, but the sound of a car's engine in the distance stopped her. "No time," she breathed. "I promise. We'll have time for each other again soon enough." She let go of Canaan's arm, but her fingers had left their mark. "Follow me, Canaan. _Run._"

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**(I have no idea why Natsume turned out this way, lol. I'm a bit unsatisfied with my portayal of her, but she won't turn up for a long time anyway, it'll be mostly the other characters. Eek, my chapters are gradually getting longer, they used to be really short.)**


	9. Chapter 9

**(First NaNoWriMo day! And it's this chapter. Btw, does anyone know how old Canaan and Alphard are? I read somewhere it was 16 and 18 respectively, but then I read somewhere that maybe Alphard's in her 20s...and also it would be nice to know when their birthdays are, for another chapter. Does anybody know?**

**Also, I swear Yun-Yun was supposed to be in this chapter but my writing told me to write something else. :p)**

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It was pitch-black outside, but a synesthete didn't need light to see. She jerked her eyes up and around, watching for the tell-tale signs of killing intent. Yet there was nothing. She could sense people, of course, watching and waiting, but their colours were unremarkable. Alphard and her didn't seem to be in any danger – yet.

"Where are we going?" she hissed to Alphard.

The Snake leader gestured to the car parked just outside the alleyway of Canaan's flat. It contained a single driver only. Canaan's eyes widened in recognition – it was Natsume's car. And the driver...

Alphard smashed her fist through the driver's window and grabbed the man halfway out of the car by the neck of his shirt. "Drive," she ordered emotionlessly.

The man stared back at her fearlessly with dark brown eyes, Hawaiian shirt looking like it would come apart in her grip. "Alphard!" he said in shock. "You dare show your face _here?_"

"Santana!" Canaan cried, grabbing hold of Alphard's arm to try and restrain her. "Let him go!" she said to Alphard. "He's my friend!"

Alphard didn't look at her. "Friend, you say? And what happens when one of your friends tries to kill another?"

"Canaan?" Santana was staggered more by her presence than the grip on his shirt. "Wh-why is _she_ here? Has she hurt you?"

Alphard's face hardened at this. She lifted the ex-CIA agent all the way out of the car through the window. "Canaan and I are leaving for a little while," she said silkily.

"Don't hurt him!" Canaan said, starting to panic. She had no close relationship with Santana, but he had always been good to Maria and Yun-Yun and the rest of them.

"I'm not going to hurt him whilst he can still be of use to us." Alphard shifted her eyes back to Santana. "We're taking this car. You're going to drive us."

Santana bravely met her gaze fiercely. "I will never help the Snakes after everything they have done," he spat. "If you want a driver, drive it yourself!"

There was a tense moment where Canaan was afraid that Alphard might really kill him. She could easily break his neck with a moment's thought if she wanted. It looked like she was seriously considering it. Santana meant nothing to her, but he mattered to Canaan.

Alphard shrugged. "Suit yourself." She hurled him into the cluster of rubbish bins in the corner of the alleyway where he landed with a _crash._ "I'll drive."

The keys were still in the engine, and in an instant Alphard had brought the car to life and brought it racing down into the road and into central Shanghai. Canaan was still breathing hard, not from running or the lateness of the hour, but just how serious Alphard had been a moment ago. When she was alone with Canaan, she was a passionate emotional lover. With anyone else...she would kill someone who stood in her path, just like that.

_But wouldn't I?_ a voice in Canaan's head asked her. No, she thought. I killed a Borner once when I thought Maria was in danger. And when I first met Yun-Yun, I almost killed her too for her actions. The only thing that stopped me was Maria. Alphard, is it any different with you...?

"You almost killed him!" she shouted at her, releasing her anger all at once. "You would have killed him if I hadn't been there!"

"Yes," Alphard confirmed. "He is an ally of Natsume. And Natsume is trying to kill both of us. When Natsume wakes up, all hell will break loose, and then your _friend_ will be trying to kill you as well." She kept her eyes on the road, but the irritation in her tone was clear. "In fact, I may have shortened both our lifespans by letting him live."

"That's not true! He's different from Natsume. And Natsume's not my friend." Canaan wondered exactly how to classify Natsume. Maybe she'd try and explain it to her later when the woman wasn't feeling so violent. "Alphard. Stop the car." The Snake terrorist ignored her. "_I said __stop the car!_"

Her dark-haired partner slammed on the brakes in the middle of the road. The cars behind them almost crashed into their vehicle, beeping angrily as they swerved past. Alphard turned and fixed the full force of her penetrating gaze onto Canaan. It was being confronted by a storm.

"When that man wakes up," Alphard said dangerously, her teeth clenched hard together, "the whole of Shanghai will know that I am here. And when that happens, _Canaan,_ we had better be far away from here." Her hand reached forward and shoved the synesthete hard against the car door. "So tell me, Canaan, what you so badly want to talk about."

Canaan avoided her gaze and pushed her hand away with an effort. "I'm not going with you if you're going to insist on harming everyone I've ever loved. If this is what it means to be with you at last – if you're just going to hurt the few friends I have – then I don't want to be with you."

She instantly realised that there were so many better ways that she could have said that sentence. The pain in Alphard's eyes was all-consuming. The hand which she had touched Canaan with was shaking uncontrollably.

"Is that a threat?" Alphard whispered, her eyes blinking back sure tears.

_Why did I say that?_

Canaan tried again. "Alphard. It's three in the morning. I've had a long day. I've had Liang Qi shoot me in the nose with a BB gun. The last thing I want to see is you attacking my friends. That's all."

"That's not what you said. You said you didn't want to be with me." Alphard moved her arm away from her as if she'd been burned. "You said that."

"I didn't mean it," Canaan breathed. "Please - "

"Why did you say it if you didn't mean it?!"

The synesthete took a deep breath. "I don't know," she said quietly. "I'm still getting the hang of this emotion stuff. Maybe humans act like this when they get tired. Maybe they become emotional. I don't know, Alphard." She wanted to reach out towards her, towards the girl who had looked at her with such longing this afternoon and now looked like her heart had been smashed into pieces. She wanted to, but she didn't know if it would be the right thing. "Please, Alphard. I didn't mean it. I just want you to leave my friends alone."

A tear rolled down the Snake terrorist's cheek. "Of course I will," she whispered. "You know I'd do anything you asked of me. You didn't have to say you'd leave - "

"I didn't mean it. You know I didn't mean it." Her lips were trembling with emotion. "I'll never say it again."

They just stared at each other, tears shining in their eyes, the noise of the traffic around them going on in the background as cars swerved around them and beeped angrily.

Alphard clasped her hand around hers, jerking Canaan's neck closer to claim her tongue in a powerful kiss. "You better fucking not," she said before releasing her.

_Why am I so stupid?_ Canaan thought. _I keep doing this. I keep hurting her. She doesn't deserve it, no matter how much she thinks she does. Everytime we see each other, I hurt her again. We're not going to last long if this keeps up._

Maybe out of grief, or pity for herself, her synesthesia came back into focus again as Alphard booted the car back into gear again. And then she saw something on the roof above them. It was blue.

"Alphard, stop the car! Seriously this time!" Canaan yelled, eyes wide.

"I haven't even _started_ it yet - "

"Get _out_ of the car!" She kicked the door open and rolled out in a flash. "_Now!_"

She felt Alphard's hand in hers as a missile shot from a bazooka on the main roof and slammed into the car behind them. It exploded in a magnificent display of red and orange, setting fire to several spectators around them and the surrounding environment. Several cars were hit by the blast too and were smashed out of the road completely.

Canaan felt the blast follow her and flung herself out of the way, but Alphard was a step ahead of her and dragged her another metre ahead where the flames couldn't reach them. Smoke descended towards them from the blaze but Canaan held her breath as Alphard half-carried her away from the wreckage.

"Sorry," she gasped, "you were right. Natsume's people are after us. I shouldn't have stopped you back then. I should have - " She bent over double, exhaustion and lack of oxygen engulfing her senses. She felt faint. "Alphard," she said weakly, "I don't feel too good."

Alphard propped one arm against her shoulder to hold her up. "I'm getting you out of here," she promised. "No matter what. Nobody will find us where we're going."

The words sounded inaudible in her head. "Alphard," Canaan breathed.

"What?"

"You never told me what you were doing hiding under my bed all that time."

"Oh, that." Alphard laughed. "Well, it's a long story, but actually - "

"Tell me later. I feel like I'm going to collapse." She wheezed painfully. "It really has been a long day...I just wanted to go to _bed_..."

The Snake terrorist smiled. "I know. It's all my fault."

"You're terrible."

"Canaan?" Alphard was looking at her curiously. "Did my sister really shoot you in the nose with a BB gun?"

"Yes," Canaan said, wincing at the memory. "It hurt." Her vision was beginning to grow hazy again. "Alphard..."

A strong arm cradled her body and wrapped around her waist. "Yes?"

"I...I meant what I said earlier..." Canaan felt her eyes beginning to close, but forced herself to stay conscious just a bit longer. "I...I would never leave you. When I said I didn't want to be with you, I...I don't know what came over me..." She had to fight the roaring in her ears. The darkness closing in on her. Just for a few more moments. "I think it's human emotion which makes me say things that I don't mean at all, and I just don't know how...I mean..." Her breath felt like it was slipping away. "You're just what I've always wanted. I...love..."

Her knees buckled underneath her as unconsciousness hit her, waves of exhaustion tumbling over her. Canaan's eyes closed but Alphard's hands around her waist stopped her hitting the floor, her silver hair sweeping over her face gracefully.

Silently, Alphard carried the synesthete in her arms, smoothing back Canaan's hair, her hand on her forehead tenderly. Then she turned single-mindedly and began to walk the two of them towards the north.


	10. Chapter 10

Canaan could feel the wind buffet against her, curling around her face as she turned in the air. She couldn't see, but she knew she should be feeling cold. And yet when she reached out, only warmth greeted her against her skin, warm loving hands that touched her and carried her away from the dreamlike existence she found herself in.

She called out Alphard's name but heard no reply. Everything seemed so far away. She whipped her arms up to clutch at the strands of colours that were drifting away from her even now, and managed to snag one of them. She was used to tracking the bright yellow colour that was Maria, maybe because she had had to save her so many times. But now wasn't the time for that. Now Canaan was the one who needed saving.

The whiteness came in across her body all at once and she realised what they were. Bedsheets. Fresh, clean bedsheets.

Canaan eyes opened as light poured in all at once, sitting up in her bed. Bed? What was she doing in someone else's bed? This wasn't _her_ bed...

_Where am I?_

She blinked several times, trying to get her bearings. The last thing she remembered was blabbering nonsensically at Alphard when...when they'd almost been blown up. And then darkness. What had happened to Alphard? Was she in _Alphard's_ bed now?

Canaan yelped and almost hit her head on the top bunk. All right. She wasn't in anyone's bedroom. She was in a bunk bed, in a small...cabin, of some sort. But where exactly was this?

She checked her watch, alarmed. It was nearly midday. At least she'd managed to sleep okay. The room she was in was pretty empty. In the rush to escape last night, Canaan realised she hadn't had time to take anything with her. No money, no belongings, no ammunition...at least she still had her trusty Beretta at her waist, at least for a little while.

The room was threadbare aside from the two simple beds. Canaan recognised Alphard's jacket on the top bunk. So they had been sleeping together in this room. Now, if she could just find out _where_ -

Suddenly the entire room moved with a jolt, and Canaan fell over to one side with a cry, barely able to keep her footing. Her instincts kicked in and she quickly recovered. What was going on?

She flung open the door at the end of the cabin, hearing voices above and sounds and smells which told her that she was no longer anywhere near Shanghai. Brusque laughter, a salty tang in the air, the sound of seagulls...

Seagulls?

Canaan raced all the way up to the top of the stairs before her, rushing past the groups of people leaning against the railing who glanced at her in surprise. She ignored her, seeing the blue cloudless sky stretch up above her. The birds circling round, nestling on the bow as people fed them scrap pieces of bread. The water which spread around them for miles and miles in every direction.

Water. The ocean. The engines of a ship, taking them towards harbour.

She was in the middle of the ocean, on a ship. She had no idea how she had even got here. What's more, she was completely stranded without her belongings. Not even a phone to contact Maria or anyone else.

There was only one person who might know how to explain this to her, Canaan thought. And she had better do a _lot_ of explaining.

* * *

She spent about half an hour trying to find Alphard. It wasn't a very large ship at all. From her enquiries with the sailors and workers on board, Canaan discovered that she was on a ferry not very far out from Shanghai at all. If this was Alphard's doing, surely a helicopter could have made the same journey many hours ago. They could be even further out by now. Instead, she was stuck on a ship, which was apparently on a round trip all the way up to the coastline. It would take a few more hours for them to reach harbour. Canaan hoped Alphard had at least paid for her ticket somehow.

Alphard had a _lot_ to answer for when she got her hands on her.

Unfortunately, in the thirty minutes that ensued, she didn't find the attractive terrorist anywhere. She found someone else instead.

"Excuse me," Canaan began, tapping on the shoulder of a young sailor who was embroiled in deep conversation with another, "could you tell me - "

The sailor turned around, boasting low hanging pigtails and a bright mischievous grin.

"Hi Canaan!" Yun-Yun said happily, all clad in a blue and white sailor's uniform. She even had the beret. "Fancy meeting you here on your holiday!"

Canaan opened and shut her mouth wordlessly.

"Yun-Yun, _what_ are you doing here?" she asked, her mind spiralling in confusion. "Are you following me again? Has Maria put you up to this?"

The Borner shook her head very definitely. "Nope! As you see, I'm just working here part-time! I always work here!"

"You do?" Canaan said sceptically. "Yun-Yun, you're not a sailor."

"I am," Yun-Yun retorted. "In fact, I'm a sergeant-at-arms in the Navy. I've obviously been a sailor for many many years. Ask anyone."

Canaan looked at her with long-suffering apathy. Somehow, she had the feeling that spending another half hour asking around if Yun-Yun really was a legitimate sailor upon this ship was going to be thirty minutes of her life that she would never get back again.

"Yun-Yun, you are not a sailor, not are you a member of the Navy," she said emphatically. "You somehow happen to be on the _exact _same ship that I mysteriously wake up on."

"Yes!"

"Just like how yesterday you somehow were working in exactly the same café as me and Alphard were standing in."

"Exactly!"

Canaan shook her head. "Well, if you're such a top-notch sailor, tell me some of your brilliant sailing knowledge."

"Um..." Yun-Yun raised her eyes towards the sun. "I can catch a fish."

She avoided the synesthete's gaze very definitely.

"Yun-Yun," Canaan said at last, "catching fish is not the same as sailing. Catching fish is the same as fishing."

"So? Sailors can fish too." The Borner refused to budge. "They're like the improved version of fishing. I don't need to sail a ship to grab a fish."

"You mean you can't sail a ship yourself then."

Yun-Yun paused. "Well..."

"Which means you're not really a sailor."

"I'm a sailor in _training,_" Yun-Yun argued. "We don't get to sail the ship yet. That wouldn't be fair."

Canaan had a brief vision of a scenario where Yun-Yun was given sole responsibility of sailing an entire sea vessel. It was not the prettiest of sights. She quickly blocked it from her mind.

"Let me get this straight," she said. "You're apparently a sergeant-at-arms in the Navy and somehow a sailor-in-training in one."

"I just got a bit rusty."

"Even thought sergeant-at-arms is really a land-based title which has nothing to do with the naval forces whatsoever?" Canaan said.

Yun-Yun squinted at her and adjusted her sailor's beret.

"So?" she said sulkily.

Canaan sighed. "You," she said, "are the worst liar ever. The next time Maria tells you to come after me, you just need to tell her no."

"I wasn't lying about _that!_" Yun-Yun protested, eyes wide and innocent. "Maria doesn't even know anything about this! I'm here because of someone else!"

She clamped her hand over her mouth too late. Canaan's eyes narrowed as she advanced on the Borner.

"_Who?_"

"No one!" Yun-Yun said quickly. "No one at all! I'm sworn to take my secret to the grave!"

Canaan grabbed hold of her arm. "I'm just curious."

"No telling! No telling!" Yun-Yun backed away to the railing. "And if you pressure me anymore I'll just throw myself into the sea and perish!"

The synesthete looked deep into her petrified eyes for a second, and then let go.

"Fine," she grumbled. "No need to be like that. You don't have to tell me."

"Good, because I'll never tell you! Ever!"

"It's fine."

"I'll never ever tell you that it's really your obsessive girlfriend who's been staring at you from the other side of the ship over there!"

Canaan looked sharply at her just as Yun-Yun clamped both hands over her mouth again in embarrassment.

"I did it again," the Borner moaned. "I feel terrible now. Promise her you won't tell her that I accidentally told you."

"Whatever," Canaan said loosely, striding away from her and towards where the dark-haired figure stood waiting for her at the other deck. Dark penetrating eyes, gloved hands and torched smile all for no-one but her. She was going to give her a piece of her mind. And hell, did she want answers.

* * *

**(I meant to put Alphard's bit in here, but I thought I can leave that til next chapter otherwise it'll be hugely long :p Also, aiee, nanowrimo quota is behind on here but I think it should still be okay. It's like, I can write more, and I really want to though, but then it might be too long. Plus I get more chapters too. Damn Yun-Yun for mucking up my word quota :c **

**Also, just finished watching the end of El Cazador de la Bruja yesterday...*sob*...for some reason I ship Nadie with Blue-Eyes in that one, and I don't know why but Blue-Eyes reminds me a bit of a gentler version of Alphard. And Canaan isn't Nadie, but still. It's there.)**


	11. Chapter 11

**(YES! Got caught up in my own story, darn, enough so that I went and wrote another chapter in the same day. BECAUSE ALPHARD. And I was behind on NaNoWriMo even though it's the second day so I thought, I HAVE to do this. Was supposed to have stuff about Yun-Yun again somewhere, but she can wait lol.**

**Also...sexual tension ftw.)  
**

* * *

Canaan marched up to Alphard angrily and grabbed her by her shirt. Or at least, that's what she would have done. If Alphard had been wearing a shirt. There was too much skin showing for Canaan to be angry about. It threatened to calm her down. She opted for grabbing at her arm instead.

Alphard intercepted her halfway and grabbed both her wrists before she could even get that far, wrenching them up in front of her whilst still leaning casually by the railing. The synesthete growled under her breath, trying to get at her somehow, but Alphard had a strong hold on her. If there weren't so many people around right now, she might have wanted to kick her.

The leader of the Snakes regarded her coolly. "_Someone's_ feeling fiery today," she said softly. "Is this any way to treat the girl who saved your life?"

"Let _go_ of me!" Canaan hissed, struggling but not too hard. Her eyes darted left and right; she knew people were going to be staring if they really made a scene.

"Says the moron who needs better emotion control." Alphard twisted her arm to the side and slammed Canaan hard against the side of the deck, then clamped her mouth down on the silvery-haired girl's throat, biting down tightly. She moved her tongue down across Canaan's lips and deeper inside for a silky dominating kiss, forcing one hand up against the back of the synesthete's neck to bring her closer to her whilst the other hand pinned her breasts down.

Muffled sounds of protest came from Canaan's mouth as Alphard forced the kiss deeper, outraged that she would just silence her like this so easily. Any moment now her anger would dissipate, her tension released, just like everytime when she was lost in Alphard's embrace...

Alphard released her all at once, licking her lips satisfactorily, although her grip on Canaan's mouth remained firm. "We'll be doing that at least several times every day from now on. I'm going to make that a rule."

"Really...?" Canaan said weakly. She shook her head in a daze and then remembered what she was frustrated about, and drew herself up. "Alphard! Tell me what's going on!" She hated not being in control of the things that happened to her, and since yesterday, that had happened non-stop.

"What _happened? _When I woke up I was on this damn boat! Yun-Yun says you told her to spy on me! Where are we even _going?_" She pressed her face closer to Alphard's. "_What's going on?_"

Alphard stared at her from such close distance, the corner of her mouth turning up in a smile, and kissed her again. "Is that all you were worried about?"

Canaan felt like screaming at her. "Worried? _Worried?_ I'm stranded out here. We're in the middle of the ocean. If someone comes after me now I'm not going to last long!" Panic mode, panic mode. It only happened when Alphard was around her. Stupid. "Do you know how long I spent looking for you?!"

"Yes. Thirty seven minutes." Alphard smirked. "It was pretty entertaining watching you."

She bit her lip savagely, her breath fast on the other's skin. "You still didn't tell me why you were hiding under my bed all night long last night either." Canaan stepped back from her, her eyes burning. "I want explanations. Now."

The Snake terrorist cocked her head slightly, her eyes narrowing. "You don't give orders, Canaan. Least of all to me. Maybe we should establish that."

They glared at each other in tense silence for several moments, the synesthete breathing hard with the intensity of her emotions, whilst the older woman regarded her darkly.

Then Alphard sighed. "Fine. I was going to tell you anyway, Canaan. I just wanted to play with you for a little while before I did."

"This isn't a game," Canaan hissed indignantly. "I'm serious."

"I'm sure you always play your games seriously. So." Alphard folded her arms. "I'll start at the beginning/ After our little _meet-up_ yesterday, I had to carry out some business of my own. Nothing you should be too worried about. A few strategic manoeuvres to strengthen the Snake's cause. That's why I disappeared for a while. "

" "Strategic manouevres"?" the synesthete said sceptically. "You mean - "

"Call it whatever you like. Bits and pieces of terrorism." Alphard saw the disapproval in the other's face, and held up her hands passively. "What did you expect? You decided to involve yourself with me. I have to run a business here. And I already agreed that I would not harm your friends." She raised an eyebrow. "If you're going to tell me to stop my _current_ line of work - "

"I'm not saying that," Canaan said shortly. "But I don't agree with what you're doing. Not a single bit of it."

Alphard laughed. "Because you care about the world? Some self-righteous morals that you want to upkeep?"

Canaan's face burned and her right hand clenched to a fist. "No. I don't care about a lot of people really. But I care about certain people close to me, and your actions could harm them indirectly."

The Snake terrorist touched her face lightly. "And?" she said harshly. "What are you going to do, threaten to leave me if I don't stop terrorism as well as everything else I'm doing? Just like you did back then?"

The synesthete closed her eyes painfully for a moment and blinked the memories away. "No. But I don't want you to keep secrets from me. I want to know what you're doing. I want to know if they're going to harm the people close to me." She felt like she was losing herself in the coals of Alphard's eyes right now. "But we can talk about that later, Alphard. Tell me the rest of it. After you disappeared."

"Fine." Alphard stared out over the ocean, but the hostility still hadn't left her face. "After my little side-mission, I had the misfortune to be spotted by one of Natsume's agents. They came after me like a shot and I needed somewhere to hide."

Canaan snorted. "So you hid under my bed all night."

"Exactly."

The silver-haired girl repressed a laugh into the palm of her hand, then looked up and saw Alphard's deadpan expression. With a start, she realised the woman was being serious.

"Wait, you're not joking?" she said in amazement. "You're the leader of Snake. You have hundreds of infantry under your belt. There isn't a single person in all of Shanghai who could take you down. And the best thing you could think of was to hide under my _bed?_"

Alphard shrugged, but her stance was definitely a lot less unfriendly now, and bordered on semi-awkward.

"And that's all you have to say for yourself?" Canaan said in disbelief.

Alphard turned away. "There are plenty of safe-houses for me. But not many I can trust anymore. And because of certain unforeseen circumstances, I couldn't get out of the city last night. I realised I may have to wait longer in Shanghai until the coast was clear. And the two of us, Canaan..." Her voice trailed off. "I trusted you. I still do. And if your feelings hadn't changed...then I felt you wouldn't give me away to Natsume. I felt that you might protect me, or help me get out of the city." She gazed off into the distance, her eyes blank. "I sensed enemies around your flat, but I hid there in the hopes that when you returned, I might have a chance."

Canaan didn't know how to respond at all to this. She'd been expecting Alphard to say something incriminating. Not...this. Alphard hadn't done anything to wrong to her at all.

"I imagine you want to know what you're doing on this ship," Alphard continued.

"Just a little."

"It's pretty simple, actually. The quickest ride out of Shanghai. All the other ways out were too dangerous or too costly. And I know Natsume's targeting you as well, so I just dragged you along to keep you safe."

Canaan struggled to keep the pain out of her voice. "Alphard..." Her voice quavered. "I misjudged you. I'm sorry." She took hold of the Snake terrorist's bare arm with one hand and wrapped her other arm around her shoulder in a soft embrace. "I was just angry and confused about everything. I'm sorry I got mad at you." She clenched her eyes shut to hold back the tears. "I...I just keep hurting you...every thing I do when I'm with you..." Her voice faded to a whisper.

At first she didn't Alphard was returning to the embrace, but then felt the older woman's arm come round the back of her hair, smoothing it down gracefully. "It's fine," Alphard whispered back. "Just try to cope with your emotions. It's hard, I know. I know it's harder for you." Her lips brushed Canaan's ear. "Tell me one thing. After everything that's happened, do you still want to be with me?"

"More than anything." Canaan's admission was choked and unyielding.

Alphard managed a smile. "Don't think you have to be with me just for my sake. You can say no if you want. If you've had enough..."

The synesthete laughed against her cheek. "I'll never have enough of you, Alphard." Her arms came up around her neck and tightened. "Alphard, this ship you've dragged me onto..."

Alphard laughed too with her. "I know. I'm terrible, aren't I? You can act like you're with someone brilliant who takes you on romantic seaside voyages, instead of someone like me who gets on you here because everyone's trying to gun you down."

Canaan shook her head. "I don't think so. I'd rather be with you." She frowned suddenly, as if hitting on a thought. "But I was wondering...why are we on a ship at all? You could bring in a helicopter to take us out of here anytime."

"Oh, that." Alphard looked a bit awkward. "Well, I would, except...I can't exactly do that anymore."

Canaan detected the slip in her voice. "What do you mean?"

"I mean there aren't any helicopters left for me to contact." Her dark-haired lover pulled a face. "Fine, I'll tell you. My sister's gone and taken them all, okay?"

"_What?_" Canaan spluttered. "Liang Qi? She's done _what?_"

"She suddenly decided to order all the helicopters flown back home and grounded completely. So I can't radio any of them in to collect me." Alphard rolled her eyes. "I don't know what's gotten into her."

"Maybe it was something I said," Canaan said guiltily.

Alphard shrugged. "Maybe." She circled her arm around the synesthete's waist. "So...you got any more questions?"

"Two more." Canaan stroked the strong arms that encircled her. They were warm to the touch. "Where are we really going?"

The leader of the Snakes laughed. "To my place."

The synesthete made a choking sound. "_What?_"

"You don't have to go, obviously. But we're headed in that direction. Once we get there, well, I can have you sent somewhere in the helicopters." Alphard kissed her hair tenderly. "Anywhere you want to go. It doesn't ma - "

"I'm not going anywhere," Canaan replied instantly. "Not for a while." She leaned back into her lover's embrace. "And I've got one more question."

"What is it?"

"How did you know where I lived in Shanghai?"

Alphard laughed, her voice filled not with regret or pain, but with real happiness. Just the sound of it made Canaan's heart leap inside of her. Just this once, I'm not hurting her. I'm making her happy. It's what she deserves from me.

"That's my secret," she said teasingly, and brought her mouth across the synesthete's face once more, drawing the two of them into longing as one on the deck of the ship. Canaan's arms tightened round her, bringing her face up for the kiss, shuddering as her tongue moved down towards her neck and the rest of her body. "No more questions," she whispered. "Right now, you're _mine._"


	12. Chapter 12

Yun-Yun was drenched from head-to-toe when Canaan saw her again. She waltzed across the bow of the ship carrying a large haddock in her hands, still alive and wriggling before her as tourists quickly made way for her as if fearful that the fish might spring at them. Her sailor's hat had deflated sadly and gone all soggy to one side.

She didn't really seem to mind the anxious looks at her back, nor the state of her catch. She paraded back and forth across the ship with the fish raised high above her head long after it had stopped wriggling until people gradually got used to her, and then made her way over to Canaan with a bright beaming smile.

"Fish!" she declared.

"Yun-Yun," Canaan said sympathetically, "when you said you'd throw yourself overboard earlier, I didn't think you were serious."

Yun-Yun waved a finger at her. "No, no, no! I was catching a fish!" She waved another finger and then dropped the haddock on her foot. "Owie!" She hopped on one leg and quickly picked it up again. "Just like all the sailors do it!" she said cheerily, cradling it in her arms.

"The other sailors are all using nets to catch the fish. You're the only one diving in. And you only caught _one._"

Yun-Yun turned her nose up. "I only want one fish. One fish per belly."

"So...you're keeping it for yourself?" Canaan guessed.

"Of course!"

"Because for some reason, the other sailors are fishing for the entire crew," the synesthete continued. "I can't help but notice that whilst their wonderful catches of fish have gone straight to the kitchen for preparation, your single haddock has remained put ever since you paraded it around for the last fifteen minutes."

Yun-Yun hugged her fish against her body. Or at least, she tried to. Her clothes weren't quite dry yet and the fish slipped out of her hands and scuttled down towards a group of people near the corner of the ship. They all ran away yelling at the sight of it, thinking it alive.

"I could teach you to catch one, too," the Borner offered. "Then you could give it to Alphard as a present."

Canaan scowled. "I am not giving her a fish as a present. Why should you care? She got you to spy on me, after all." She was still feeling sore about that.

"_What?_ No she didn't!" Yun-Yun's denial was immediate. "I never said anything like that! I just said I was here because of her!"

"Oh really?" Canaan looked at her appraisingly. "So now you're not spying under her. What happened then, you just _happened_ to see her come on board with me unconscious and thought _Oh I just absolutely have to go on a ship today, I could go around pretending to be a sailor _and then went and badgered Alphard to go muck about on a ship and - "

She stopped when she realised Yun-Yun was deliberately avoiding her eyes now and suddenly becoming very interested in looking at her fish instead.

"Please tell me that's not true," she said sharply.

Yun-Yun shrugged matter-of-factly and went to retrieve the fish. She brought it over with a grunt, heaving it up and complaining that gravity had suddenly made it heavier.

"Canaan, you're like some kind of mind-reader or something," she said happily. "It was like this. I'm starting up my shift in the morning and then Alphard turns up carrying _you_ on board the next ship! And at first I think she's kidnapped you but then I realised what happened last time, so maybe you're into that kind of thing - "

"Shut up."

"And Alphard sees me and then I think she's going to kill me so of course I grab the nearest weapon to defend myself with," Yun-Yun gabbered, "and that weapon happens to be a fish. So I start slapping her with the fish but it doesn't really have much effect, probably because I'm using a little tuna fish the size of my thumb. And she says I'm to keep my mouth shut if anyone turns up asking about me or you. So I say, all right, but I can come on board? And then she says no you can't, and then I say please, and then she says nooo, and then I say pleeeease, and then she says No Never Never and then I say pretty pretty please begging on my knees and then she says - "

"All right, I get the picture!" Canaan said loudly before the Borner drove her mad with her annoying ramblings. "So you're not spying on me."

"Of course not."

"You're just pretending to be a sailor so that you can mess about on a boat and scare people with your giant fish."

Yun-Yun looked down guiltily. "I was going to put it back, but I was just having so much fun." She sighed audibly. "I'm glad you and Alphard are having fun too."

"Yeah." Canaan rubbed her eyes tiredly, unable to stop the smile spreading. "Yeah, we made up."

"I don't see her with you, though."

"She's resting in the cabin right now. Which is why I'm stuck right now." Canaan looked out over the ocean dreamily. "She keeps saving me and doing everything for me. I want to repay her somehow. I...I just don't know how..."

Yun-Yun gave a cheeky smile and held up the fish to the light, the sun's rays sparkling across its glossy surface, then gave her the thumbs-up.

Canaan stared at her for a moment, not understanding what she meant at first. Then her gaze travelled from Yun-Yun back to the fish, and back again.

"No," she said in mounting horror.

"Oh yes," Yun-Yun said cheerfully.

"I am not giving her that." Canaan backed away as the Borner dropped her catch on the floor again and almost tripped over it. "You have got to be joking."

"No jokes," the Borner whispered conspiratorially over to her. "Canaan, it's time for Yun-Yun to teach you how to fish!"

* * *

Forty-five minutes later, the synesthete cautiously tip-toed back into their cabin with her hands behind her back. This was going to be very delicate and precise.

She edged over to the left of the door, and then she edged over to the right. How to enter the cabin with disturbing Alphard. Well, in short, she had to basically enter the room without Alphard noticing her. That was practically an impossible feat in itself. Wake up, Canaan, she reprimanded herself. You're a synesthete. _Use_ it.

Determinedly, she focused the innate ability within her which was capable of detecting the thoughts and emotions of absolutely everyone except Alphard. She gave up a moment later. Stupid personal thoughts clouding her thought processes.

The present she was going to give Alphard was still concealed behind her back. She had to use both hands to hold it. As in, her hands were full.

The problem there lay in that the door to the cabin had a handle on it and she still had to open it reaaaally quietly. Canaan nudged it with her knee and then almost had a heart attack when it started to creak loudly.

Resorting to desperate measures, she slowly bent down and gripped the handle between her teeth and started to turn it very slowly -

Alphard turned the handle from the other side and threw the door open. The synesthete went flying off her feet as the sudden movement barrelled her right into the older woman's legs and started off a massive tooth-ache.

"AIEEEEEE!"

"Canaan, what - ?" The Snake terrorist was astonished at the sight of her desperately trying to keep her hands behind her back and struggling to get off her feet at the same time. Canaan managed both by exercising just the right muscles and almost hit her head on the bed bunk when she fell over backwards. "Canaan, what were you doing outside the door?"

_Don't_ _think, _Canaan thought, _just give it to her._

"Alphard, I have a surprise for you!" she declared, keeping her arms rigid behind her. There was no point in a surprise if the other person knew what it was. Be unpredictable. Like...like Alphard, really. "I want you to close your eyes when I give it to you."

Her dark-haired lover put a hand on her hip. "Canaan, I was about to get up and find you and when I try to leave the room, I find _you_ crouching by the door like - "

"Forget that!" the silver-haired girl shouted, her heart pounding. Surprises didn't work if people interrupted them. That's what Yun-Yun had said. "Alphard, I've been thinking I want to pay you back, and - "

"Pay me back?" Alphard repeated. She shook her head with a smile. "Canaan, being with you is better than any treasure you could give me - "

_Damnit. Wrong phrase of words. I need to work on this. _"It's just a present!" she said quickly. "I just want to give you something. It won't take a second." She took a deep breath. "Please. Can you close your eyes?"

Alphard sighed. "You don't need to give me anything, Canaan. I'm not your mum."

"Just close your eyes," the synesthete pleaded. "It won't take long."

The leader of the Snakes closed her eyes and held out her hands. Canaan stepped forward to give her the present.

She deposited an object in her arms which landed with a slimy _splat._ Alphard remained perfectly still, although a frown appeared on her face.

"You can open them now," Canaan said gratefully.

Alphard kept her eyes firmly shut. "This present of yours feels really wet and slimy," she said suspiciously. "I'm not sure I want to look at it."

"Just open them."

She did so, and stared at the thing in her hands with a look of blind terror which was quickly replaced by bafflement. She moved it between her hands, watching it slither from side to side.

"It's a fish," she stated.

"Yes," Canaan confirmed. "Yun-Yun helped me catch it."

"Your amazing present to me is a _dead fish._"

Canaan hesitated. Yun-Yun had said it would go over really well. Maybe she had been mistaken.

"It's fresh," she said reassuringly.

"That's good to know," said Alphard with the barest hint of sarcasm in her voice. "And _what,_ may I ask, were we planning to do with it? Eat it? Dissect it? Commune with the underwater kingdom?"

"Um..." Canaan drew a blank here. "I'm not sure really." She shuffled her feet nervously. "You don't like it?"

"Well, how do I say this." Alphard flicked her tongue against her teeth softly. "Any present from you is wonderful, Canaan. It's just that the head of a dead fish was not what I was expecting to see when I opened my eyes."

"Oh." Canaan tried to grab hold of the positive side of this. "Well, at least I managed to surprise you - "

"This was Yun-Yun's idea, wasn't it," Alphard said roughly.

"Yeah," the synesthete admitted.

"Never listen to her advice again."

"I won't." Canaan sighed and took the fish back from her awkwardly. "I'm sorry. Have I hurt you again?"

"I'm more baffled this time, actually," the older woman said. "Just throw it away. Quickly." She groaned. "I was going to make love to you in here, Canaan. And now I can't because the whole cabin stinks of fish."

"Sorry," the silver-haired girl said awkwardly. "I'll get rid of it right now."

"Please do," Alphard said, passing a hand over her eyes. "Let's get out of this room for now. Just...just..."

"Okay, okay."

The two of them crossed the stairs to the upper deck. Canaan turned around to see Yun-Yun walking happily towards them. With a sweep of her arm, she slapped the Borner over the face with the giant fish.

"Ow!"

"_That_ was for the awful relationship advice you gave me," Canaan snapped. She shoved it towards her. "Do what you like with it. Just keep it away from us."

Yun-Yun shrugged and headed over to the other side of the ship. When Canaan saw her again, the girl was using it as a skateboard.

"Come on, Alphard," she said, wrapping an arm around her lover's waist. "How about I show you something..."

"As long it's not another fish."

The synesthete laughed. "I'm not listening to Yun-Yun anymore. This one's something different. It's something me and Maria did together."

Alphard hugged her close, her mouth tightening. "With Maria," she whispered. "I see."

"I know you're getting jealous again. Just listen. I just want to show you this." Canaan's fingers curled up towards her, stretching out into a piece of string. "We call it cat's cradle."

She moved her hands together swiftly, the string going over her fingers and turning into each other, looping over and pulling the string together into an assortment of different shapes. Alphard watched her in silence as the silver-haired girl passed the string over to her to try out. The older woman frowned, then pulled the string over her fingers to test it. The whole thing ended up in a series of complicated knots.

"I can't do it," Alphard muttered, flinging it back to her. "You and Maria can have fun with doing it yourselves."

"Sshh, don't be like that. I'll help you."

She guided Alphard's fingers one by one in each loop of the string, pulling them out one by the other, pointing her through each intersection.

"Pull that one and you get the Eiffel Tower."

The Snakes terrorist did so and looked admirably at the structure in front of her. Then she twisted her thumb around and pulled the whole thing apart.

"Yet so easily destroyed," Alphard said calmly.

"It's only string," said Canaan. "I'll show you another one, and then you can do one more. Look."

She moved her fingers in a series of motions, then moved Alphard's wrist to one side to hold out the new formation of loops and knots.

"I don't know _what_ that's supposed to be," the older woman said disdainfully.

Canaan laughed. "A helicopter. The one you took me in. I can't do the smaller details, but..." She shrugged. "Come on. You do one."

"If you insist," Alphard mused, and then drew the strings together to make her own design. With Canaan watching, it wasn't too bad. She went for a simple shape, one that was easy to understand.

Canaan peered at it, trying to make out what it was. "That's...that's a good one."

Alphard smiled mischievously. "Do you know what it says?"

"There's a letter on the left there...it says "A"...and then there's a symbol. Like a card suit." Calphard blinked, and then saw it. "A heart! That's what it is. It's a letter "A", and then a heart..."

"There's another letter on the right," Alphard said, gesturing.

Canaan nodded. "It's...I think it's a "C"."

"Yep," the Snakes terrorist said softly, and then kissed her. "What do you think?"

The silver-haired synesthete stroked her neck and hair down to her back and nuzzled her head into her shoulders. "I think it's one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen."

* * *

**(Yes, thou shalt feel the cute.)**


	13. Chapter 13

**(More action now, though not necessarily in the way you might think :p**

**Also, it turns out everytime I write romance I end up with loads of angst between the characters. -sigh- It's like it's a necessity.)**

* * *

They reached port within the next hour. Canaan watched the harbour become larger on the horizon as their ship approached it steadily. Before she knew it the sailors had the boat anchored securely, the main platform leading out onto a quiet port town that she vaguely recognised from a job a few years back. She had no idea that Alphard operated in its vicinity.

Alphard had told her to go ahead and wait for her whilst she prepared some things to take with them. Canaan didn't really want to leave her side, not now when she'd gotten close to her at last and things were finally going the way she wanted, but she knew Alphard could take care of herself easily. Better than her, too. She didn't want to be stranded away from her without any money or means of contact with the rest of the world.

She was going to Alphard's place. The two of them were. It made Canaan giddy inside just thinking about it. And yet at the same time, she felt something would be out of place somehow. Alphard was going to be taking her to the secret headquarters of Snake itself. Not everybody there was going to welcome her with open arms.

Canaan waited at the dock patiently, watching the rest of the passengers walk off the platform and disappear into town. She waited for Alphard to emerge.

She was still waiting for Alphard to turn up ten minutes after the ship had finished unloading and all the sailors had left. She tapped her foot impatiently. What was going on? It didn't make any sense. Alphard wouldn't just leave her.

_If she ditches me and tries to pass it off as "business to take care off"_ _just one more time..._

There was a scuffling in front of her, and a Snake marine stepped out into view at the edge of the harbour.

Another Snake marine appeared by her right. In less than a minute, an entire squad of them was assembled directly in front of her, barring passage into town.

Canaan looked at them without fear. They weren't pointing any guns at her this time. Surely Alphard had ordered them here or something. It still didn't explain why Alphard hadn't been seen leaving the ship, though.

"Are you my escort?" she asked the nearest one.

The Snakes gave no answer. Instead, they parted to one side as two far more senior people stepped up to her. One was a familiar short-haired angry woman. The other was Cummings.

_Oh, great._

"Canaan!" Liang Qi screamed, holding up what Canaan sincerely hoped was another BB gun. "I am sick to _death_ of you! If I didn't want you dead before, I fucking do _now!_"

Canaan raised her hands up, trying to appear peaceful. "If it's about Alphard - "

"You're damn fucking right it's about my dear sister," the Snake woman raged, wiping dribble from her mouth. "You coming after. _You. _She – she - " She went into a spasm of coughing and bent over double. "And she expects _me_ to carry out her fucking order. She. Never noticing me. Never seeing what I did for her." Her eyes blazed bright and fearful. "How's she going to feel when I take her light away from the world, huh? You tell me that!" She raised the gun at Canaan's head point-blank again.

Cummings hastily took over. "What Liang Qi-sama is trying to say," he stated, "is that Alphard-sama has instructed us to escort you to the Snake headquarters ourselves."

"What?" Canaan said, totally lost. She couldn't think of a worse way for Alphard to treat her sister. Where was the sense in deliberately tormenting her like this?

"You don't have to escort me," she said quickly, because the madwoman in front of her looked like she was having a fit.

Liang Qi hurled her fists at her and somehow managed to hit Cummings instead. "I'm going to escort you," she spat, "because it's what my dear sister wants. Oh yes. Whilst thinking of all the ways to kill you as hard as I possibly fucking can. Because my dear, dear sister doesn't want you hurt either. At all." She clutched at the sides of her head and paced up and down, then tossed the gun aside. "Oh, oh but you see. You see I don't even have to do that, _Canaan,_ I don't even have to do that, because all that has to happen, yes, all that has to happen is for dear Canaan to have a tragic accident." She clawed at the side of Canaan's face desperately. "What do you think? Isn't it brilliant? Then I didn't kill Canaan, the Canaan that my dear sister never stops going on about all the fucking time, it _isn't my fault_ that she drowned tragically before she could ever see her wonderful Alphard again. The Alphard who was mine to have from day one. Don't you see? Don't you fucking _see?!_"

Cummings hesitated, realising this was going a bit further than usual even for Liang Qi. "Liang Qi-sama..."

Canaan met the woman's insane eyes. "And what if Alphard doesn't buy that?" she said quietly. "What if she turns on you and tries you to end you instead?"

Liang Qi let out a shrill, hysterical laugh. "Alphard...my dear sister...killing _me._" Her nails flaked skin off her neck. "My life. My everything. Would you do that, Alphard?" Her voice seemed to reach fever-pitch in its deathly whisper. "Would you end me...for _her?_ For this dirty little creature, who's barely...barely _human?_"

Canaan took a deep breath. "Let's just all calm down here," she said. "You can just sit down and let everyone else escort me. Just pretend you didn't see me."

The words triggered her off again. "Pretend? _Pretend?_" Liang Qi grabbed the front of her shirt. "I have spent my _life _pretending. Pretending I wasn't hurt. Pretending my dear sister never loved you. That she hated you, hated you nearly as much I hated you..." Her nails curled up in one hand like talons. "How I'd love to cut you up right here, Canaan, just to see her face when she gives me her undivided attention for the longest moments in all my life...in fact, why don't I just cut you up _right now? _ What's to stop me?" She drew a long-bladed knife from her belt. "Say your prayers, Canaan!"

Canaan tilted her head back and mashed it into Liang Qi's face, then kicked her back from her to weaken her grip. Liang Qi went down to one knee, gasping from the blow, her face livid with pure rage. Quickly, Cummings pulled her back even as Liang Qi screamed for the Snake soldiers to open fire. As one, the entire squad aimed their military rifles at Canaan and fired.

The synesthete engaged her synesthesia in the blink of an eye. A line of blue figures, all turning towards her. She could sense the bullets lancing towards her, and she knew the exact location and velocity of each one and how fast she had to move to evade them. She moved in a sideways tackle towards the soldier nearest to her and slammed the base of her wrist into his chest. He slumped forward as his body flew back into the soldiers behind him.

The soldiers on the other side were still a problem. Swiftly Canaan skirted the boulevard and ducked into a tumbling roll, bringing her knees up against her chest to fling them out against the next soldier, grabbing the rifle as it dropped from his nerveless hands and ramming the gun against the body of the remaining enemies.

She stood up, unmarked, the Snake marines in a pile before her, and faced Liang Qi with a look that dared her to stand between her and Alphard. Unfortunately, Liang Qi's eyes said much the same thing. She wasn't going to back down.

Canaan stepped towards the woman as Liang Qi pulled out a revolver and pointed it at her.

"No!" Cummings shouted, and ran in front of Liang Qi, protecting her like a human shield. "I will not let you harm Liang Qi-sama!"

Liang Qi screamed, "What the fuck are you _doing_, you idiot?! Let me at her! I'm going to kill her!"

Canaan tensed, not able to relax. She didn't really want to have to fight Cummings too. He was only doing his job, even if he probably had picked the wrong woman to fall in love with.

"I'm not going to hurt her," she said, wishing that he would use his head and get out of the way, because she had a strong feeling that Liang Qi would shoot him too if it meant she could get at her. "Not if you get out of the way quickly."

"Get out of the way, Cummings," Liang Qi spat, "or I'll shoot you too. I fucking swear it."

Cummings hesitated, but still seemed reluctant. Canaan cursed under her breath; she didn't have time for this. The problem, she realised, was that she didn't really want to kill Liang Qi either. That part of her surprised her. Liang Qi was a sadist who had delighted in the torment of the Borners and the deaths of countless innocents. Yet it was Alphard who had driven her mad. If Canaan could just find Alphard and convince her to stop treating her sister as some kind of...thing...

"Liang Qi," she said, hitting on a bright idea, "if you put the gun down, and escort me to Alphard - "

"I will _never_ escort you to her, you bitch! You don't deserve her!"

"If you let Cummings escort me to Alphard," Canaan amended, "then I will make sure Alphard pays more attention to you."

There was the barest of pauses. It didn't last long, but Canaan hadn't held up much hope for this plan anyway.

"_Liar!_" Liang Qi roared, shoving Cummings out of the way. "You haven't seen her like I have! She'll never see me whilst you're still alive! She talks about you so much that all other conversation topics have long become obsolete! She's got a fucking picture of you on her bedroom wall!"

"A...a picture?" Canaan stammered in real surprise. When had she taken it?

"I've had to ban the saying of your name in my own meetings because it fucking drives me mad all the time! Everyone has to refer to you as the C-word!"

Cummings hissed out of the corner of his mouth, "Liang Qi-sama, you weren't supposed to tell her that - "

"Shut up! Shut up! All of you just _shut up!_" Liang Qi's hands trembled, and then the gun dropped from her terrified fingers. "I can't even do it because of her! I can't fucking kill you because Alphard will know!" She clawed at her hair. "But I can do this! It'll just be the accident that happened to Canaan, even if I die in the process!" She rolled up her sleeves, the hysteria rising. "Canaan, I'm taking you down with me!"

She charged at Canaan at a run, hands reaching for her. The synesthete recognised the woman's intent in a flash. She was going to try and force the two of them into the ocean and drown them. That way it would not look like a murder.

Canaan hesitated, then stuck out her foot.

Liang Qi tripped over it and went flying into the ocean with a scream.

"Liang Qi-sama!" Cummings shouted. "Liang Qi-sama, I'll save you!"

He plunged into the sea after her with a cry.

Canaan looked over to the two of them guiltily, splashing about in the water. That was it. She absolutely had to find Alphard and have a good long talk about what to do about Liang Qi. You couldn't solve jealousy by making it worse.

Quickly, she made her escape away from the harbour, into the safety of the town. The last thing she needed was Liang Qi coming after her again. She might not be so lucky.

Canaan looked up at the bustling streets. She was still stranded. No money, no food, no phone. Worst of all, no Alphard. She still didn't know where Alphard had mysteriously vanished off too, and now she didn't have anyone to escort her to wherever Snake headquarters was. It seemed a lost cause.

Sulkily, she kicked the dirt, turned around and walked right into Yun-Yun.

The Borner was carrying a total of seven fish, stacked up in her hands, with a bundle of pots and pans lain across her shoulders. Her mouth stretched all the way to her ears in that familiar cheeky grin.

Canaan closed her eyes. _Just what I need. Another encounter with Yun-Yun._

"Hi Canaan!" Yun-Yun exclaimed happily. "Fancy meeting you here! Want some fish?" She started juggling with them actively.

"No, Yun-Yun, I don't want a fish..."

"Aww. That's such a shame." Yun-Yun pouted. "I'm sorry my relationship advice was so bad earlier. It always worked with my girlfriends."

Canaan didn't want to know about Yun-Yun's relationships. "Yun-Yun, I'm not really in the mood right now. I'm just a bit preoccupied with trying to find Snake's secret headquarters." She sighed, completely fed-up. "Thanks, but you just won't be able to help me. I just - "

"There're just over the side of the hill there," Yun-Yun said matter-of-factly.

Canaan paused. It took a few more seconds for the words to sink in. When they did, she struggled to find something with which to reply with.

"Wait – you mean - "

"And then you take the shortcut through the forest at the back," Yun-Yun continued, "and if you push the secret button on the third tree from the left, the secret tunnel into Snake will open up, and then you'll encounter the Mysterious Winding Trail of Nothingness, and the security will ask you for a password, and then - "

"Just stop talking for a moment." Canaan tried to catch her breath. "You know where Snake headquarters are."

"Of course," the Borner said, looking at her as if she were mad. "I used to work for them, remember?"


	14. Chapter 14

**(You guys still reading? I needs motivation, so please keep reviewing. Pweeease. Also, this is the last you'll see of Yun-Yun for ages, in case she's annoying you :) Anyway, next few chapters I have planned are very Alphard-orientated, so keep reading!)**

* * *

The woods around them were a haven of birdsong and tranquillity. They seemed to stretch out for hundreds of miles, the trees looming high above the two travellers and almost blocking out the sun completely in some parts of the forest.

The secret entrance to Snake headquarters was in full view before them, revealed when Yun-Yun had triggered the necessary switch. However, nobody was in the mood to go in yet. The two of them were sprawled out on the grassy trail deep in the woods, exhausted.

Canaan had learned a lot of things today. One was to never ask Yun-Yun for relationship advice, and the second was to never let her guide you somewhere unless you liked getting lost.

"I am never going travelling with you again," she said, lying on her back and staring up at the gap in the trees. Her leg muscles weren't used to this much exertion.

Yun-Yun tried to make the most of it. "So I made a few wrong turnings," she admitted. "But I got us there in the end."

"You did not get us there. You took us to the wrong end of the forest. And then you forgot which tree the secret passage was hidden underneath." Canaan turned over. "I had to use my synesthesia to work out where the entrance was, and only because I could detect the energy from inside the building."

"Sorry," Yun-Yun said lamely. "But I took the quickest route possible."

"We were walking for _four and a half hours_," said the synesthete. "We ate all the fish you brought with you because we were walking so long." And it had not tasted like fish. Canaan knew she wasn't a hundred percent knowledgeable in all areas of the world, but she liked to think she knew what a fish should taste like. And what Yun-Yun had given her to eat had not tasted like fish.

Wearily, she got to her feet. If it turned out she had to walk up twenty floors to get to Alphard, she was not going to be very pleased.

Yun-Yun started after her, and the silver-haired girl put out her arm to stop her, glaring at her.

"You," Canaan said sternly, "are not coming in."

The Borner pouted. "But I know the way in. I know all the shortcuts and fastest routes to the top and - "

"No. I seriously doubt that." Canaan gritted her teeth. "You do not know the way through. You probably don't know where the stairs are. Your idea of a "shortcut" is to keep taking the left turning and to hope it goes somewhere."

"My mother always said to go left in a maze," Yun-Yun muttered.

The synesthete put a hand on her shoulder. "Please _don't _follow me any longer," she begged. "It's like I'm doomed to failure whenever you travel with me."

"I can't just walk all the way back home," Yun-Yun complained. "I might get lost."

"Yun-Yun - "

"Maybe once we see Alphard she can take me home in her helicopter. I can give her really accurate directions on how to get to my house!"

Canaan silently crossed her fingers behind her back. She was going to regret this, she thought to herself. Any measure of distance spent in Yun-Yun's company was not a cheerful one.

"You can follow me in," she said finally, "if you promise to stay _behind_ me. I'll be in front so that you don't lead us into some life-or-death situation."

"But there are traps across the way. And only I know the passwords to get past security."

"I think I'll manage somehow," Canaan replied. She tapped the side of her knowingly. "Synesthete, remember?"

Traps and obstacles, just to get to Alphard? If Alphard had been her to lead her in, there surely wouldn't have been anything like that at all. Canaan was pretty sure about that. No, there was surely a quicker way through all of this.

_Just concentrate for now,_ she told herself grimly. _Let's do this._

She walked into the metal tunnel ahead of her which lead into the secret headquarters. Nothing out of the ordinary happened.

Yun-Yun walked in a moment later and there was a _slam_ as a set of metal spikes came down behind them to seal the exit up into the forest. Canaan looked at her suspiciously.

"I didn't do that," Yun-Yun said quickly. "It always does that."

"If you say so."

They followed the metal tunnel for about ten minutes before it folded into a ramp. Canaan began to hear the sound of voices, and at the same time, their surroundings became considerably more pleasant. The floor became layered on by a velvet carpet, and the walls and ceilings were covered by a thick blue wallpaper which encircled them.

They were definitely in the right place now. Corridors began to intersect with the path they were on, and people in uniforms were walking briskly past them, chatting amongst themselves. Canaan realised that they were all Snake employees – military staff, researchers, telecommunication workers, and so on. They frowned when they saw Yun-Yun, perhaps surprised to see a Borner dressed up as a sailor in the building.

However, when they caught sight of Canaan, they became respectful and polite, their voices hushing down whenever they passed near to her. As if she was someone important, someone of high status. Someone like...Alphard.

Canaan hadn't really expected this. What _had_ she expected? Maybe people treating her the way Liang Qi did. It wasn't this way at all, and it warmed her heart to know that the entire _organisation_ could feel this way about her (even though they were still all terrorists). Or was it on Alphard's orders? She felt a skip in her step, and her pace quickened.

"_Canaan!_" came Alphard's voice on the speakers, full of concern and urgency. "What are you _doing_ all the way down there at the back? What took you so long to get here?"

Canaan glared at Yun-Yun. The Borner coughed and tried to slink into the background as best as she could.

"Alphard? Alphard!" she cried, not caring if anyone else heard her. "Where are you?"

There was a flash on the nearest monitor, and then Alphard's face appeared on it, looking down at her from the ceiling. Canaan rushed up to the TV set, as if trying to reach her through the screen itself.

"Alphard, what happened to you?" she said. "You ditched me on the ship, and sent _Liang Qi_ to escort me here? Are you completely out of your _mind?_"

Alphard's face on the monitor clouded, her hair bowing in front of her eyes momentarily. "Something came up," she said distractedly.

"Something _always_ comes up!" Canaan was tired of being treated like this. "I want proper answers this time!"

"You'll get them. I promise." Alphard's expression was unreadable, forced into a blank pose. "But not here. Upstairs, where we can talk in private. Just take the stairs."

"Alphard, I don't even - "

The monitor went dead and fizzled out. Canaan let out a cry of frustration. She didn't like being kept in the dark. The only thing she could hope for was that Alphard had a good reason for what she was doing. Just trust her.

"Stairs," she muttered, and stalked over to the far end of the hallway. Before she could ascend them properly, however, she felt Yun-Yun's hand on her arm.

"I'll help!" the Borner said encouragingly, springing up the stairs before her.

Canaan felt her patience being tested yet again. "No, Yun-Yun, I'll stay in front if you don't mind - "

"I just want to help!"

Yun-Yun raced up a few steps ahead of her and ran right through the threadbare security barrier. Immediately sirens began to bawl around them and a mechanical, robotic voice began to speak out at high volume. Red lights flashed on all sides of the staircase. Yun-Yun gulped as the two of them quickly tried to race up the stairs as quickly as possible before anything else happened.

"What have you done _now?_" Canaan hissed to her as they ran.

"Sorry," Yun-Yun said glumly. Then she brightened up. "But I'll make it up to you next time by - "

All of the sudden the sirens stopped and the ground disappeared out from beneath their feet. Canaan stared in horror as the staircase opened out into a yawning hole before them, a giant chute which swallowed them up. For a brief moment they were suspended in mid-air – and then gravity took over.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIIIEEEE!"

The two girls plunged down the massive chute, taken away down into the darkness. Down they fell, with Yun-Yun doing most of the screaming. Canaan joined in after several seconds, activating her synesthesia to have _some_ idea of what was going on. If only she could get a grip on the edges of the chutes, but some gravitational force was keeping them in the middle and -

The chute suddenly split into two opposite directions. They were both headed for the chute on the left. Yun-Yun started panicking in the middle of screaming and grabbed at Canaan. Furiously, the synesthete batted her away from her and propelled her away from her as best as she could.

Her action accidentally sent Yun-Yun down the other chute.

"NOOOOOOO!" Yun-Yun cried as she disappeared.

Canaan cursed under her breath, but there was nothing she could do about it now. Her abilities were telling her that she almost at the end of the chute. She scraped at the edges of the passage, gradually slowing down her speed. She didn't want to end up a lifeless corpse when she landed.

The chute grew smaller and smaller and she began to slow down at last. Prepared for the worst, Canaan drew her knees up to her chest, curling herself up into a ball...

She flew out of the chute and landed in a Canaan-shaped bundle onto a very comfy sofa next to Alphard. She opened one eye, reluctant to uncurl back into a proper shape.

Alphard held a hand out to her, and she slowly took it.

She had landed on a sofa in a very lush and spacious room full of what she could only describe as perfect house entertainment. A dining table lay at the eastern end, with two televisions opposite from where she was sitting. Pictures of Alphard and Liang Qi were framed on the wall. Doors were open up other rooms of the house, where she could see a pristine kitchen and...

Where _was_ this? It was like she had landed in the middle of Alphard's house of something. But that was crazy...

"Am I dreaming?" she said blearily, and uncurled herself and fell forward onto the nearest surface, which happened to be Alphard's lap. Canaan picked herself up with a start, embarrassed, but Alphard didn't seem to mind.

"You're really late," Alphard commented, her legs stretched out in front of her on the couch. "I had to skip dinner for you."

* * *

**(And you know what, when I first planned this out Canaan and Yun-Yun were going to drop into a secret room full of killer robots who were trying to kill them, and then Canaan blows them all up, and Yun-Yun gets carried away by some of the robots but...nahh. That would be way too silly :p**

**Anyone thinks it's too boring yet? Or different ideas to suggest? Not that I'm running out, I've still got loads more.)**


	15. Chapter 15

Canaan lay there on the sofa, watching the television blare nonsensically in the background. She was a still bit worn out, but at least she'd made it into the Snake headquarters all right, all things considered. She rolled over and almost fell onto the floor, but managed to keep herself upright, sitting up as Alphard came back in with some snacks.

"I'm not that hungry," she said idly. She cursed Yun-Yun and that stupid fish of hers that they'd eaten on the way here.

Alphard shrugged. "Eat when you want. I have to leave soon, anyway."

Canaan could barely believe her ears. Was she serious? "You have to _leave?_" she repeated. "It took me hours to find you again and you're going to leave again?"

"Only for half an hour," Alphard said. "Just a business meeting with the rest of the company. " She sighed heavily. "You must have taken the back way in through the woods. I'd sent word to the guards at the front to let you in the quick way, which was no more than twenty minutes' journey from the port town. Why did you go in the _back?_"

The silver-haired girl made a significant attempt to keep her dignity. "I was following Yun-Yun," she said stiffly.

"Yun-Yun," the Snake terrorist said with great distaste.

"I know."

"You had _Yun-Yun_ guide you here." Alphard chewed one of the rich chocolates from the plate in front of them, licking her fingers. "Canaan, you never learn, do you?"

"I guess it's one of my faults." Canaan looked up yearningly as Alphard got to her feet, pulling her jacket on around her. She was going to leave. Leave, without her. "Don't leave," she said quietly. "Please."

Alphard walked up to her by the sofa and planted a kiss against her lips. "I won't be long."

"Yes you will." The synesthete couldn't stop the words spilling out. "You'll be hours, delayed for some other stupid reason, like someone tried to shoot at you again and you couldn't get in touch with me and it might be _days_ before I see you again and - "

She stopped as the older woman gently pushed two fingers against her lips, silencing her, and sank back into the sofa, hugging her knees almost shyly.

Alphard gazed into her eyes, shaking a little. "Not this time," she said. "I'll be back for you. I promise. There's no reason why I won't be able to come back here this time." She cradled Canaan's neck against her own. "Just trust me, Canaan...I've got plans for the two of us tonight. So I'll have to come back, you understand?"

"Then I'm coming with you," Canaan said defiantly, starting to rise to her feet.

Alphard pushed her back down. "It's probably best you don't do that. Liang Qi will be at the meeting too, and - "

"_Her,_" Canaan said bitterly. "Did you really send her of all people to escort me here?"

The Snake terrorist nodded. "I know it wasn't the best choice. But when we reached harbour I received word that some of Natsume's agents were waiting to ambush me when we arrived. They weren't after you for some reason, but I had to make my escape quickly. I sent word that the highest ranking official was to escort you to my room." Her lips compressed into a fine line tightly. "I didn't expect Liang Qi to be back here so soon. She was supposed to be on a mission of her own somewhere completely."

"Alphard, we need to talk about this. She's _obsessed_ with you! If you really are mentioning my name all the time around her - "

Alphard eyes flashed angrily. "Who told you that?"

"Your sister did!" Canaan snapped. "And the more you talk about me around her, the worse she's going to get! If this keeps up, I'm going to have to kill her before she kills me and everyone else I've ever loved! Do you really want that?"

The leader of Snake snorted. "You can kill her if you want. I'd just find someone else just like her to be in charge of Snake whilst I'm gone."

Canaan felt a twinge of irritation. "You really don't care if I kill her or not? Even though she's your sister?"

"No, I really don't care," Alphard said quite seriously. Her tone took on a dangerous edge, like steel. "Because if she ever touches you again, I'll be the one to kill her." She turned towards the door. "But don't worry, Canaan. I'll talk to her. She won't go near you again. I'll make sure of that."

Her long dark cloak cast shadows around her as she stepped through the door. Canaan watched her go with a longing sadness. Was she really going to be back in half an hour? Despite all her promises? Canaan wanted to trust her. But if something happened tonight, just like last time...she just didn't know what to think. She didn't know if Alphard was just playing with her the whole time. Like leaving her hanging the whole way through. Still, it would be equal justice for the way Canaan had treated her since...

Alphard turned her face towards her before she could turn the door closed. "Don't try to follow me," she warned.

"I wasn't going to."

"I'll come back for you, Canaan. I promised." The dark-haired woman blinked away the sadness in her eyes. "The whole place is yours to explore whilst I'm gone. Just don't poke around in my room too much. It's a bit private in there." She retrieved a key from inside her cloak. "Just to show you that I really am coming back, I'm going to lock you in."

Canaan dipped her head onto her knees sadly, and then she realised the impact of what Alphard had just said.

"You're going to _what?_" she almost yelled. "How is _locking me in_ going to assure me you're going to come back? What's to stop you leaving me stuck in here and running off to France?"

Alphard gave her a long-suffering look. "Because," she said impatiently, "then I'll have no _choice_ but to come back for you. Besides," she added with a smirk, "I don't want you running away, do I? I've left my number on the kitchen table for you if you suddenly have the urge to ring me."

"I _always_ have the urge to talk to you," Canaan retorted, feeling quite upset. "I still don't want you to go - "

"Oh, get over it," Alphard snapped at her, looking a bit fed-up now. "I really am only going for half an hour. I had to wait for you for five times as long." She began to sweep the door closed behind her.

Canaan leapt up from the sofa. "I can use my synesthesia to unlock the door again!" she shouted through the keyhole.

"I don't care as long as you're still in here when I come back."

"I could even _change_ the locks!"

"I'm just going to go now," said Alphard, and shut the door with an air of finality. The sound of her boots on the tiles outside echoed off into the distance. Canaan listened to them intently until they faded away completely.

Angry and upset, she grabbed two of the chocolate biscuits on the plates and rammed into her mouth, then started choking on them and had to run to the kitchen for water.

So that was it. She was alone in Alphard's house until she got back. Whenever _that_ would be. Canaan knew she was feeling lonely and clingy about the whole thing but there wasn't a lot she could do about it right now. _ I can wait for half an hour. Half an hour is nothing._

And after hour an hour, _then_ she'd ring her up and find out why she was taking so long. Canaan found the scrap of paper with Alphard's phone number on the kitchen table, just as promised, and stuffed into the pocket of her jeans. She was going to need that in the future. She could just tell.

Her words were still going through her head. _I've got plans for the two of us tonight. _That had better be true, because Canaan knew she wasn't going anywhere else. Not after it had taken her so much time and effort to get here. Besides, Canaan realised, did she have anywhere to go right now? Natsume was probably after her, for her own stupid reasons, and she couldn't go back to her flat, especially at this time of night...

In the midst of all these thoughts, Canaan wondered what had happened to Yun-Yun when the Borner had slid down the wrong tunnel. A second later she decided it probably didn't matter anyway.

She watched about ten seconds on the television, rolled around on the floor and explored probably the biggest kitchen she had ever seen before Canaan started getting really restless. You couldn't last half an hour like this whilst missing someone that badly.

It was obvious by now that Alphard did not live in a house. She lived in a _mansion._ As head of one of the most notorious terrorist organisations in the world, Canaan had expected to have a lot of money, but she hadn't quite been prepared for this kind of lifestyle. Guns littered the walls, both as trophies and the real thing. Lavish carpets, crystal chandeliers, numerous bathrooms, a mini-casino down on the floor below...

There was just too much for Canaan to explore. The place was massive, and the chute she had come in was apparently marked "Laundry". She guessed it was part of Alphard's plan by getting her in on the laundry chute.

She crossed the stairs up to the next few levels with caution. There was nobody else around, of course – this was Alphard's private property, shared with no-one else. It seemed a shame that she had to spend it all by herself in loneliness, Canaan thought.

Carefully, the synesthete tip-toed upstairs to the main bedrooms. She knew there was something she had to see.

She found Liang Qi's bedroom door first, on the next level. The strange thing was that it was marked with Liang Qi's name, but had a picture of Alphard on it, so Canaan found it a little confusing. She reached for the handle curiously, then decided she might be scarred for life if she ever went in there.

Alphard's bedroom was at the end of the hall.

Canaan stared at the closed door. It was marked with Alphard's name, but it had a picture of Canaan's face staring back at her. It was just a bit startling to see. The picture shone as if somebody had been polishing it and taking great care of it.

For a moment, Canaan almost didn't open the door. But if she was going to be with Alphard, then any secrets that the Snake terrorist might hide from her were secrets that she wanted to know about. If she knew the real Alphard, then...

She turned the doorknob and met resistance. She brought her synesthesia out into play and discovered not one, not two, but _three_ locks. Evidently Alphard must be a very private person.

Canaan easily made her way through each of the locks. It was child's play for her. As she opened the door, she wondered for a second if Alphard had maybe put a trap inside for any unwitting thieves. But nothing bad happened – probably nobody was expected to get that far.

It was pitch-black inside Alphard's bedroom, but once Canaan found the light-switch, everything became clear at once.

Her own face was reflected back at her a hundred times over.

For the walls of Alphard's bedroom were covered by heaps and heaps of pictures, and they were all photos of Canaan. Canaan smiling in the rain, Canaan by the train station, Canaan coming out of her flat in Shanghai, Canaan eating out with Maria, Canaan and Maria holding hands as they went outside...

She had to concentrate on the ones with Maria in them to work out what they were. Every photo which contained Maria had a great big red marker against her face, as if someone had tried to blot her out completely.

Canaan was still staring into the room when she heard the door slam downstairs.

Alphard had come back. She hadn't lied – she really had come back. And she was coming upstairs.

Her heart in her mouth, Canaan shut the bedroom door hard behind her. There was no time to lock all three locks once more. She could hear Alphard calling her. Quickly, she ran back down the stairs to greet her. _Just look normal. Pretend you didn't see all that._

Alphard caught her hand just as she was rushing down the stairs. Her heart pounded and she almost tripped down all the way, but the older woman took hold of her gently with a soft smile.

"I'm back, Canaan," Alphard said, her grip tightening. "Did you miss me?"


	16. Chapter 16

The dress was a bladed crimson with jewelled sequins set into the helm. Somehow, it matched the colour of her eyes whenever she activated her synesthesia. Canaan wasn't used to wearing dresses, but Alphard had insisted that it was mandatory. Everyone was expected to look their best where they are going.

Alphard, for her part, was wearing something very familiar. Canaan recognised it as the dress she'd been wearing over a year ago when they'd tried to kill each other for the first time in a long time. Still thinking of revenge. But things were different now.

"There's a very nice restaurant I want to take you to," said Alphard, fitting the silver-haired girl with a pair of shoes which looked like they were worth a few houses in Shanghai. "I'm sure you want to look your best."

"I don't care how I look," Canaan complained. She didn't like dresses much. Her jeans and sleeveless top had always done the job for her. "Do I _have_ to wear this?"

"Canaan, if the two of us turn up looking like bounty hunters as usual, they'll throw us out before we can order." Alphard sighed. "Do you want me to help with the belt?"

"I'm _fine!_ Get your hands off me...I can do it myself..."

"No you can't. Let me do it." The Snakes terrorist ignored Canaan's stubbornness and drew the straps of the belt round the holdings of the dress tightly. "There. Now you look like...like..." She pursed her lips. "I'm not going to say "princess" because the word sounds dirty in my mouth."

"What were you going to say?" Canaan snapped bitterly. "A terrorist's trophy girl? That's what I look like."

Alphard took her hands in her own and looked her in the eye, suspicion clouding her face. "What's the matter?" she said seriously. "You've been on edge ever since I asked you to put this thing on – no, ever since I came back."

"I'm not on edge!" The synesthete pulled her hands back fiercely from her. "I'm just..." Words failed her for a moment. "I'm just homesick."

"Homesick?" The Snakes terrorist looked almost amused. "I can fly home right now if you want."

"I don't want to go home," Canaan interjected before she could stop herself.

"You're homesick but you don't want to go home," Alphard repeated. "I feel like I'm babysitting a wannabe liar." She pulled Canaan's hands back again. "Tell me what's wrong."

"It's nothing - "

Alphard's eyes flashed. "I refuse to take you out tonight for the time of your life if you're just going to sulk the whole way through dinner. That is not the kind of image we want to present here."

"_Image?_" The synesthete was working herself into another rant. "Who cares about our image?"

The leader of the Snakes hesitated, cleared her throat, then said, "Just all the people who might think you're a spy trying to get close to me."

_Oh. Right. _Canaan calmed down a little, but it didn't help the feeling in the back of her throat. "So what am I supposed to be to them?" she asked. "Your love interest? Your little stalker-girl?"

Alphard smiled easily. "You don't stalk me that much."

"_Me?_" Canaan was so angry she could barely shape the words in her mouth. She sprang to her feet, pointing at Alphard and shaking. "It's _you_ who's doing the stalking! I saw all those pictures inside your bedroom...there's about two hundred pictures of _me_..."

"What are you talking about?" Alphard said sharply. "I don't stalk you."

"Liar!" the synesthete shouted. "You think I haven't seen inside there? It's like some creepy psycho's idea of a - "

"Canaan," the Snakes terrorist said wearily, "please shut up for a moment."

Infuriated, the synesthete did so. She knew she was right, though. Alphard had been spying and stalking her all this time. Those photos all _proved_ it.

"When you say my _bedroom_," Alphard began, "...which one?"

For a moment Canaan simply stared at her. _She's got more than one bedroom? _Then she realised the sheer scale of the mansion. Of _course_ she had more than one.

"The...the one at the end of the hall," she said uncertainly. "A few floors up."

Alphard laughed. "Canaan, I don't use that room to sleep in any more. It's been converted into a telecommunications room for one of our divisions in the company. My _current_ bedroom is in a different part of the house altogether."

_What?_

Canaan fought to maintain her composure. "You expect me to believe that? When there's hundreds of pictures of my _face_ – me and Maria – all over the place?"

"It's a bit of a mess," Alphard admitted, "but the information built up over the years, and that room specifically was centred on gathering information about you, Canaan, and your background. Defense mechanisms, weaknesses, and so on."

The silver-haired girl realised her mouth was open. She quickly shut it.

Alphard looked at her in wonder. "You actually thought that I would spy on you all the time and take photos all day long because I had nothing else to do."

Canaan flushed hotly. "Shut up. It was a bit unsettling when I walked in." Despite herself, she was calming down again. Relax. Your girlfriend _isn't_ a murderously obsessive stalker. She isn't going to watch you sleep and spy on every single move you make. "So let me just make sure," she said. "You haven't been stalking me all these years."

"I only stalk you occasionally."

"Right." Canaan cleared her throat. "And you didn't make two hundred photos of me for your own twisted pleasure."

"I have spies to do that for me," Alphard said irritably. "And the room is mainly an archive. It built up over the years."

"Then _why - " _Canaan felt her heart pound as another possibility raged within her. " - _why_ is there a big red marker over Maria's face in every single picture?"

She looked over at her, and was surprised to see that the older woman looked a bit sheepish.

"Because I don't like her face...?" the Snakes terrorist hazarded. "Because she's blonde and I don't like blondes? Will any of that convince you?"

"No."

"Fine." Alphard examined the hem of her dress with great interest. "Because she shouldn't have to share the same picture as you."

Canaan bit into the side of her hand. "You mean because you were jealous."

"I didn't say that."

"You did say that. You're jealous that there's another girl in the picture with me, a girl who isn't you. You just won't admi- "

Alphard glared at her, twisting her hand to the side. "I think you should just shut up again. We've established that I don't stalk you like some kind of psycho killer. If anything, _you'd_ be the one to stalk _me_ like that."

"_Me?_" the synesthete protested.

"Yes, you." The Snakes terrorist hid a smile. "I wouldn't mind, you know. And I'm just wondering...did you look into my sister's room, by any chance?"

Canaan hesitated. "No...no, I didn't." She frowned suspiciously. "Why?"

"Good," Alphard said heavily.

"Why?" Canaan said again. "What's in her room?"

"You don't want to know. It's not very pleasant." Alphard took Canaan's hand in hers once again and led her to the stairs. "It's almost time for us to go. I've made a booking for the two of us. There should be a lot of people there, but nobody should bother us too much. But, before we go..." Her face clammed up for a bit, then relaxed. "I would like to give you a present, Canaan."

The silver-haired girl's eyes deepened, touched. "A present? For me?" It had been a long time since anyone had given her anything. "What is it?"

"This way." Alpharad gently guided down the stairs leading down into the lower floors. "It's in the basement."

The sound of their steps echoed in the silence as Alphard led her through a string of rooms and corridors. As she walked, Canaan got the impression that the lower floors weren't really part of the mansion. They seemed like servant's quarters, or rooms that led to other departments of the Snake headquarters.

At last, they came to a set of metal doors. The leader of the Snakes threw them open, and a misty air blew about them, brushing their dresses slightly. Canaan shivered a little.

The room they stepped into was enormous, and Canaan found herself wondering at the existence of such an enclosed room so far underground. Machines worked left and right, computers beeping away in the background, all for one singular purpose.

That one purpose was the giant object that lay in front of them. It was thick and sturdy, towering up all the way to the ceiling. Canaan thought it was about half the size of a rocket, and wondered what it was. It didn't have any wings, as far as she could tell, but there were red markers all around it, and patches of silver and little devices hanging off the sides...

"Canaan," Alphard declared impressively, "I give this now to you."

The synesthete looked around the room in a daze.

"I don't get it. What are you giving me?" Canaan wriggled her feet in her new shoes, trying to make them fit a bit better. "Which one's my present?"

"Over there," Alphard said proudly, and pointed.

Canaan stared speechlessly at the huge towering object which took up the entire room. She had to crane her neck to see the top of it.

"What on earth is _that?_"

"It's your present," the Snakes terrorist said.

Canaan bit into the side of her lip. "And what _is_ it, exactly?"

Alphard drew herself up. "It is the Jericho-4TR5, model number KP5867, an explosive device of greater mass and size than any other developed before upon the premises of Snake so far in our entire - "

"It's a bomb," Canaan translated, with dismay.

"Not just any bomb." Alphard's eyes were shining with delight. "None other has been developed of such capacity and mass and size which - "

"Okay, so it's the most gigantic bomb that you've made. And you're really proud of it. And you're giving it to me as a present." Canaan moved her tongue around inside her mouth sourly. "You're giving me a gigantic bomb as a present."

"Canaan," the leader of the Snakes said with deep emotion, "it is no ordinary bomb. It is the biggest bomb in the _world._"

Out of nowhere, the synesthete found herself recalling her conversation with Maria, and Maria voicing her opinion about how terrorists like Alphard might like bombs. _I knew it,_ she swore. _This I've got to remember. If I ever want to make Alphard really happy in the future, I just need to buy her a bomb. _Why did Maria have to be right about that of all things?

"So what am I going to do with this giant thing?" she said out loud. "I can't exactly carry it anywhere."

Alphard shrugged. "You could just do what I do."

"Which is?"

"Come in here to see it every now and then," the dark-haired woman purred happily.

Canaan flung her a disgusted look which went unnoticed. "And gaze at it with love and admiration?" she said sarcastically.

"_Yes!"_

"Well, good luck with that." With a measured look at her shoes, the synesthete did an about turn and headed out the door again. "I think I'd prefer to go to that nice restaurant right now, actually." Under her breath, she muttered, "Now I know what you felt like when I gave you that fish."

* * *

**(Okay, my plan for this chapter was kind of different and I did it in the wrong order than how I imagined. One idea was that Alphard really was a huge obsessive stalker and then the two of them ended up having sex in this chapter. But meh. This happened instead. Maybe they'll screw in the next chapter. I forget. They'll do it at some point when they're not staring at a massive bomb. On that note, I had another idea where they did it on top of the bomb but that was too silly. :p My ideas are silly.)**


	17. Chapter 17

**(As you will probably discover, this chapter is M-rated. But I'm not changing the rating of the entire story, mostly because people will go around looking for M-rated stuff and then when they start reading the first 16 chapters they'll see Yun-Yun with her fish and Natsume being dim and get really confused about the rating :p Besides, lemons won't happen all the time.**

**Not like this is a lemon or anything. Oh noooo. When life gives you lemons, put them in the M-rated section.)**

* * *

It took about ten minutes for them to get back to the ground level again. Canaan found herself wondering just how far underground the Snakes' headquarters really were. They could be miles beneath the surface – or high above in the sky. She hadn't seen any windows to provide any such evidence for her.

"I think we're going to be late for our booking," Alphard said distractedly.

"We are?" Canaan was surprised. "When did you book it?"

"About three hours ago. But it shouldn't matter." The dark-haired woman smiled and wrapped an arm around her companion. "Knowing who reserved it, that table should be vacant all night if need be. Fifteen more minutes won't matter too much."

Canaan shook her head, not liking the situation. Attention was not something she cherished. "We're only late because you wasted all that time looking at a giant bomb."

Too late she wished she hadn't used those words. Alphard's eyes flashed towards her angrily, showing exactly what she had felt for the present.

"No, _Canaan,_" the Snakes terrorist hissed, "we're late because you took hours and hours getting here."

"And whose fault was that?" Canaan snapped. "Who sent the worst choice of escort imaginable and almost got me killed in the process?"

Alphard's jaw tightened and her arm went up to the back of Canaan's neck, digging her nails sharply in possessively. "Watch your tongue," she warned. "I already told you that wasn't my fault in the circumstances - "

"Don't tell me to watch my tongue. I'll say what I like," the silver-haired girl responded, getting fired up. "You don't control me just because you don't like what I'm saying."

The leader of the Snakes squeezed the synesthete's neck tighter, forcing her back against the hard door at her back. Canaan felt the wind go out of her with the impact, gasping.

"My house. My rules," Alphard said forcibly, pinning her tightly in place. "Have you got a problem with that?"

Canaan wrested with the strong grip on her shoulder and waist. Her struggles were useless; she wasn't going to be able to get free in this position. "Get off me," she growled. "You seem to love pinning me a lot."

"I wouldn't need to if you weren't so stubborn about everything," Alphard whispered back. "Why do you have to _always_ find something to argue about?"

Canaan stopped struggling long enough to glare at her, their faces so close that they were almost touching. "You're the one who always starts it, that's why! Nobody else I know finds anything wrong with what I say!"

"That's my line." Alphard saw Canaan shifting her weight to one side, trying to gain some space to manoeuvre her way free. Quickly, she pressed her hand against Canaan's dress at her upper thigh, pushing her further back against the door. That should stop her from escaping for a while longer. "Are you going to argue like this all night?"

"Are you ever going to get your hands off me?" the synesthete shot back.

Alphard mouth touched against her cheek. "Oh, I would love to let you go," she replied silkily. "But I'm not taking you out tonight if you're going to act like this. Just _behave_ yourself for once, will you?"

Canaan turned her face away from her angrily. "Don't treat me like a child," she hissed.

"Well, you're acting _really_ mature right now."

"Says the girl who needs to control me all the time and can't take my opinions properly," the silver-haired retorted.

This struck a nerve. Canaan felt the hands shift from her neck and pin against her breasts and stomach, forcing a startled cry in the back of her throat. At the same time a knee came up between her legs, parting them underneath her dress as she kept trying to free herself. Her heart pounded harder.

"You just never learn, do you, Canaan?" Alphard said between clenched teeth.

Canaan couldn't even move anymore, except maybe flail her arms a little. The grip against her breasts was hard and unyielding. As it intensified against her, ramming against the door harder still, she found herself gasping for breath. Her legs felt wet underneath the dress, but that was probably just the heat.

"I'm not going to give you what you want," she gasped, feeling Alphard's other hand clench around her thigh and squeeze around her, claiming her. "You can't do this - "

"Just shut up, Canaan. I always get what I want." Alphard felt around her neck at the back, clutching at her hair. "And what I want now is for you to stop bitching all the time. I knew you were desperate, but if you're going to get so sexually frustrated that you have to get _this_ bad - "

The synesthete felt her face flush hotly, but ignored it. It wasn't that obvious. It couldn't be. "You're out of your mind!" she raged. "You think I'm like this because I'm – I – when _you_ - "

Alphard pressed her knee against the crotch of Canaan's dress sharply, and dug her hands underneath her dress completely. Canaan cried aloud as she felt the older woman touch her bare flesh, caressing her. She tried to turn her head, struggling to escape, but Alphard's tongue came across her cheek sensually. The wetness in her thighs intensified. It wasn't from the heat anymore.

She was _still_ damn angry at this. How dare she do this to her? Even if she did want it, that was no excuse just to take her and -

The ribbons of her dress unfolded from her shoulders under Alphard's expert touch and the leader of the Snakes applied her tongue against Canaan's nipples, sucking gently. The tension raged inside her, and she clutched at Alphard's neck and face, desperate to touch her as well. Alphard's hand moved down between her legs, and Canaan moaned out loud as ripples of electricity shot through her in a rush.

Canaan bit her lips viciously, feeling the older woman fuck her inside her. She wasn't starting off slow, either. She was going all the way. Canaan could barely breathe under the intensity of it all, panting as she clawed at Alphard's hair, digging her nails down the woman's face. She forced her face nearer and bit into Alpharad's lips as hard as she could, feeling her lover shudder with her.

The hand between her legs began to speed up. Alphard pressed her other hand home and sucked against her other breast, hitting her hard from two different directions at once. Steadily the Snakes terrorist moved her other hand down to her lover's butt, making her arch her back to receive it harder.

This isn't fair, Canaan thought, as her mind began to blank out one bit at a time. Her body was jerking with motion, and she couldn't stop it. _Stop giving me all the pleasure. I want to give it to you instead -_

"S-stop," she moaned, running her hands down Alphard's shoulder.

Alphard didn't look up, but the smirk appeared on her face. "You'll have your chance later."

"I'm not - "

She cried out as the Snakes terrorist slapped her roughly on the side of her cheek. It hurt, but not too much. But the accompaniment of pain and pleasure was driving her crazy.

"Just shut up," Alphard hissed, and dug her fingers in extra deep, clamping her own mouth onto Canaan's at the same time.

Canaan's eyes went wide as she climaxed at last, relieving all of her tension in one solid go, her screaming lost and muffled as Alphard took control of her mouth and tongue completely. Her dress turned damp with the fluids as she shuddered and collapsed. The juices poured down the insides of her thighs and threatened to soil the carpet.

Alphard smiled mischievously and released her at last, pushing her away, and the synesthete tumbled to the floor in a moaning heap, still gasping and panting. The tension had drained away completely, leaving her mind in a total blank as she lay crumpled by the carpet. She tried to move, but her body wouldn't respond.

"Alphard..." she gasped single-mindedly, barely able to say anything else.

The leader of the Snakes prodded her with the toe of her boot. "Feeling better?" she remaked with a particularly sadistic grin.

Canaan was unable to reply. A shattered moan was all that emerged as she rolled over, struggling to pick herself up. It was like there was an aura around her that forced her down, dulling her senses.

"Good," Alphard said, as if nothing out-of-the-ordinary had happened at all. She glanced at her watch. "You've got five minutes to clean yourself up and get yourself outside. Come on."

The silver-haired girl managed to put herself in a seated position, cross-legged. "Five...what...?" she said blearily.

"I'm taking you out to that restaurant, remember?" Alphard said impatiently. "We're _really_ late right now." She dragged the synesthete to her feet forcibly by her neck, and slapped her butt hard. "Let's get a move on." She eyed the dress appraisingly. "If that dress is torn or that carpet soiled, you know you'll have to pay for it."

"Wh-what?" Canaan finally found the words back in her mouth again. It was easier to think once more. "But...you're the one who made me - "

"Canaan! I don't have all day. We're already late." Canaan found herself unceremoniously pushed in the direction of the bathroom. "You've got three minutes now. _Please_ get a move on."

Canaan stumbled onto her knees, trying not to drip onto the carpet. She could feel herself being able to breath normally again. Slowly she turned towards to Alphard."Control freak," she muttered.

Alphard ignored her and gave her another push. "Two minutes," she ordered.

Obediently, the silver-haired girl crawled on her hands and knees into the bathroom. She felt amazing, and it was all thanks to Alphard. But it wasn't _fair. _She had no right to turn her on like that. Even if she had really wanted it at the time. No. That didn't matter.

_I'll get you back, Alphard,_ she promised as she ran the taps on. _I swear it. I'm going to give you what's coming to you, and you're not going to be able to refuse me._

* * *

**(-checks my story plan-_  
_**

**Nope...this scene was not in my plan. They were supposed to be doing something else, but...you got this. Yep.**

**And thanks so much to all my reviewers! You are all wonderful and I love you.)**


	18. Chapter 18

**(Okay so one of my reviewers asked to make Canaan less bitchy, but never fear, it's mostly back to normal now. sort of. in places. Whatever normal means again. Lol.)**

* * *

The queue stretched from the front door of the restaurant all the way to round the corner. It was difficult for Canaan to see in through the crowd but by the way the customers and staff were dressed she could tell that it was not the kind of place just anyone could walk into. It was top-notch, five-star quality with sparkling champagne and three floors full of majestic royalty. Businessmen, millionaires, tycoons...it was like walking into a casino.

_And then there's me, _Canaan thought, _living in a tiny little flat in the middle of Shanghai._ Or at least she would still be living there if Natsume hadn't gone a bit mental on her. It was still pretty recent, and Canaan knew she still needed somewhere safe to stay. Her present accommodation, whatever Alphard thought, were far too dangerous.

"This is the place?" Canaan said numbly, staring at the giant queue of people. She didn't know many restaurants which even _had_ a queue that reached outside the door. Alphard had taken her on a roundabout route into the heart of the city and the nightlife itself. Usually the only thing Canaan was interested in at this time of the night was where her target was. She hoped Alphard wasn't going to take her out partying or something. That could become embarrassing very quickly.

Alphard didn't reply and kept walking, past the queue to the front door.

"A-Alphard?" the synesthete called after her. "We're supposed to wait in the queue for - "

The leader of the Snakes pierced her gaze, drawing her closer on her heels. "When you walk with me," she said, "you will find that I don't wait in queues."

We're just going to jump the queue? Canaan thought in disbelief. Are you even allowe-

She shook her head, seeing all the knowing looks that the people in line had given to Alphard. A great deal of them were in fear or respect of her, and a greater amount still in awe. Yet those who stared in surprise at Canaan as well had a measured, daring look in their eyes. Alphard had been right to make her dress like this. Out in the public, both of them were being judged. Canaan didn't care much for it.

"Alphard-sama!" the steward at the door exclaimed when he saw the tall dark-haired woman arrive at the door ahead of everyone else. He couldn't bow quickly enough, and his eyes shifted towards Canaan too. "And...your companion. Your table is ready on the second floor. Please, follow me."

Canaan felt a tense energy in the air as she walked past the queue of wealthy strangers, feeling their eyes on her back. It was almost as if one of her was going to attack her. Not uncommon for her in the kind of life she lead, and still rather unlikely in front of everyone.

She set foot into the grand restaurant just after Alphard. It was packed full with people, all of who were staring at the two of them. Canaan froze, then relaxed when everyone went back to their meals again. They were inside. People had other things on their mind; she told herself that everyone was just awed by their beautiful dresses. Alphard's more than hers, of course.

"How do you feel?" Alphard murmured to her, out of earshot of the waiter and anyone who might be listening.

"I'm..." Canaan didn't know how to express it. "I feel calm. In control." She closed her eyes briefly. "I'm sorry for getting at you earlier," she said, and meant it. "You do too much for me."

Alphard surprised her with a quick laugh. "Sounds like I cured whatever it was you had."

"With an orgasm?"

The Snakes terrorist brushed her hand against Canaan's cheek softly, almost cheekily. "I wouldn't say that out loud in here, if I were you. Let's wait until we get to our table first."

They reached the next floor over an elegant staircase of gold and silver and seated themselves opposite each other at a table of shining indigo. Champagne was already being poured into the glasses, and menu's supplied for them already. The waiter seemed to think of lingering further, but a sharp look from Alphard sent him scurrying away again, leaving the two of them in peace by themselves. All around, the chatter of other people's conversations filled the air. A few hurried glances towards them, but nothing more now. It seemed that the rest of the restaurant had gotten used to their presence.

Canaan eyed the champagne suspiciously, then took a sip. It tasted absolutely foul in her mouth, and it showed in her face.

"Maybe I should get you something else," Alphard remarked with amusement.

"This stuff _reeks..._" Canaan grabbed hold of a napkin to wipe her chin. How did people actually manage to drink this stuff? "Can we talk properly now?"

Alphard smiled, propping herself up and placing her elbow on her side of the table. "Talk, then. I take it you don't want to order yet."

"Well...I..." The synesthete was unsure of where exactly to start. There were still so many things going on in her head even though she'd finally resolved most of them at least. "I can't pay for any of this, Alphard. I don't have any money, remember?"

"I know."

"And, and..." Canaan's eyes widened when she saw the menu. "Look at how expensive everything here is! I'd have to work every day for a month just to afford the starter!"

Alphard yawned. "So? I can easily pay for every meal on there, and more."

"Alphard, you're giving me so much...the dress, the food, and now a really posh restaurant like this...how am I ever going to pay you back?" Canaan tried not to let herself get too agitated. But the scene against the door of Alphard's house earlier had taken away most of her stress. She was feeling a lot better since then. "I don't earn anywhere near as much as you do, I work alone, I don't have the kind of lifestyle you do - "

The Snakes terrorist leaned over the table and gave the synesthete's hair a flick teasingly. "Canaan, stop worrying all the damn time," she said. "Just enjoy yourself. It's on me. I'm not going to turn around suddenly and ask you to pay me back with interest or something." Her eyes softened. "Repayment isn't necessary when it's with you."

"But..." Canaan still didn't like it. She wanted to give Alphard something back, something wonderful and rewarding that they could cherish together. It was selfish of her to just accept everything like this and not give anything back at all. She wanted to give Alphard something back ever since...well, ever since she'd saved her life and brought her on board that ship. She'd tried to give her something back, but that had turned into a fish. Canaan didn't even remember how that had possibly happened.

She sighed and tried to push it out of her mind for now. "This place is fantastic," she said blissfully. "I can't possibly give you anything to champion this..."

"I can think of better to give you than this," Alphard replied. "Maybe I just know how to impress a girl."

"You impressed me all right. It's like a dream." And where did _I_ take her on our first date? Some run-down café at random in the middle of Shanghai. With Yun-Yun as a waitress. And she probably _owns_ this restaurant. I'm so stupid... "I'm starving," she said, quickly bringing herself back to the present. "You want to order?"

"Go ahead." Alphard set aside her own menu without even looking at it. "I'll have whatever you're having."

Canaan hesitated. "But you don't know what I'm having."

"No, but it's probably fantastic."

"You don't know what I'm having," Canaan said slowly. "Even _I_ don't know what I'm having. I don't know what half the stuff of this menu even is. My idea of a perfect meal is something which doesn't make me sick in the first few minutes after swallowing it."

Alphard rolled her eyes dramatically. "I might change my mind and force you to have what _I'm_ having."

"You – you can't do that. No. I'm choosing." Canaan quickly scanned the menu. Could she use synesthesia to try and work out which meal was most appetising...maybe the cheapest? But then Alphard might take offence at that. She was paying, after all. But she couldn't take something really expensive and make Alphard pay all that money for it as well and _this is hard I don't know what to choose when I don't know the difference between this Mexican shrimp and this set of scallops deep-fried in whatever this is -_

Frustrated, she put the menu down too. "I think I'll just ask the waiter," she said decisively.

Alphard raised an eyebrow. "And then you might end up with something you really hate. And because I'll be eating the same thing as you - "

"All right. All right." Canaan took a deep breath. "I won't ask the waiter. I'll ask you. What do _you_ think I should have?"

Alphard stared at her, stroking her cheek with a cracked smile. "You're asking _me._"

"I don't know who else to ask."

"And asking me what to choose for you is basically as the same as you eating the same as what I'm having. And you said you didn't want that."

Canaan covered her eyes shamefully. "Stop confusing me," she grumbled. "I told you. I don't know what half of this stuff is."

"Canaan, I don't know what kind of things you like." Alphard sighed and threw up her hands. "Have we really been discussing this for the last fifteen minutes?"

"Yeah," the synesthete said in a small voice. "I'm sorry. It's my fau- "

"Please don't start that again. It was my idea." Alphard raised her arm to call the waiter. "I'm ordering for you."

The silver-haired girl sat up in alarm. "But - !"

"And I'm doing it whether you like it or not, because otherwise we'll still be arguing about this until the place closes." Alphard pushed Canaan back into her seat and turned around as the waiter came towards them.

It was a different waiter this time, but the recognition in his eyes was unmistakable. He bowed low, napkin folded over the tray of drinks in his hand. "Alphard-sama?"

Alphard raised her eyes to his own, but he wasn't looking. "Waiter, my companion would like something else to drink other than champagne. Something else from the back would do, perhaps one of the more recent vintages."

The waiter bowed again and headed off in the direction of the bar. Canaan let her breath out in one go. She had been afraid that Alphard was going to say something else completely. Such as order something she didn't like, and then Alphard would order it too, and then Alphard would see that she didn't like it, and then she'd be unhappy and think it was her own fault, and then the evening would be spoiled again. Why was all this so difficult? Was she thinking too much?

Forget this, Canaan decided. I mustn't make her decide for me like this. It just isn't fair. "I've decided what I want," she announced.

"Oh?"

"I have _decided_," the synesthete said boldly, trying not to betray the unease she felt, "to have...um..." The names all looked so foreign to her. Wildly, she waved her finger around the menu and picked one at random. "That one!"

Alphard frowned. "Which one?"

"Um...I can't pronounce it."

The leader of the Snakes moved her chair round to the middle of the table so that they could look over the same menu and see what Canaan was pointing at.

"So...you want that one," Alphard said calmly.

"Yep."

"You're quite sure you want that."

"Absolutely," Canaan declared, wondering exactly what it was.

Alphard gazed at her for a long moment, her chin cupped in one hand as she lifted Canaan's face with the other. The synesthete found herself unable to look away, her pulse quickening.

"You don't know what that dish is, do you," Alphard said flatly.

"I – I do," Canaan said quickly. "Of course I do."

"Well, what is it then?"

"Um..." The synesthete tried to turn her face away but the Snakes terrorist dragged her back to look her in the eye. Distracted, Canaan mumbled under her breath. "I'm...I'm not telling you."

"You don't want to tell me."

"No. That's right." Canaan managed to keep a dignified approach in this. _This isn't going to work. _"I refuse to tell you what I just ordered."

"Even though you already pointed out what it is?" Alphard questioned. "It's just that I know what that dish is."

Canaan stuck her nose up. "So?..."

"And _somehow_ I just have a feeling that you might not want to order a slab of whale blubber with sheep's eyeball and lettuce covering if you had known that that was what it was," Alphard said, reading off the translation underneath. "It's just a bit of intuition I'm feeling right now."

Slowly, Canaan looked down at the point on the menu where her finger was pointed at. _Darn it._

"In that case, I'll have the one _below_ it," she said boldly.

"Trust me, you really don't."

"Then the one below _that _one – no, the one _above_ it!"

Alphard rubbed her eyes. "We just did the one above it."

"I choose the dish three dishes above the one that we didn't do!"

Alphard pulled the menu from her hands, tugging at it. "Canaan, you're hopeless at this," she said gently. "I'll order for you."

"I don't want you to," said the synesthete stubbornly.

"Well, I _do_ and it'll be a lot faster." The leader of the Snakes tugged at the menu in her hands more impatiently. "Now give me your menu back so I can order."

Canaan pulled it back. "I'm not giving it back. I'm still ordering."

"No. No, you're not." The older woman pulled it away from her more roughly. "Let go of it or I'll kiss you."

Startled of the seductive way she said it more than anything else, the synesthete let go of it so suddenly that Alphard almost flew backward in her chair. Red-faced, she grabbed Alphard's own menu and hid behind it.

Alphard folded her arms sternly. "Can you give me my menu back too?" she said.

"No."

"You're just being childish again. You know that, don't you?" Alphard gave up. "That does it. I'm ordering for you. Right now."

* * *

**(I didn't think the restaurant scene would go on this long, but hopefully should have the second part in the next chapter)**


	19. Chapter 19

They ended up having some kind of strange crab soup surrounded by a delicate assortment of smaller dishes. Italian, mostly, by the looks of them. Canaan hadn't been able to pronounce the names of any of them to start with but they didn't taste half bad. As they ate, more dishes arrived on both sides before she had even finished eating. Roasted pancakes with...what was the meat inside called again? It felt like she was in the middle of a feast.

Canaan sipped at her cocktail, feeling rather light-headed. She didn't know what it was, but it tasted _good._ It probably didn't matter.

"I thought you said you were having whatever I was having," she said, the alcohol making her feel more talkative. The last time she'd been at a meal like this was when Maria...no, before...oh, she couldn't even remember.

"I changed my mind," Alphard replied, carving up a side-dish of lamb succinctly. "That was just to annoy you."

"Right." Canaan poked at the unshapely red sauce on the plate in front of her. It bobbled around like jelly and she swiftly gave it a wide berth, moving onto the next one. "How much does this all cost again?..."

"I told you not to worry about that. Remember?"

"I remember," the synesthete said very clearly, a bit too clearly by her own merit. She downed the rest of the cocktail and a waiter dutifully refilled it up to the brim. Mmm. More drinks. "I feel like a new woman," she drawled into her glass. "Woman woman woman."

Alphard smirked. "I think you might have had a bit too much to drink."

Canaan ignored her and downed the entire cocktail all in one. "No. No no no no. I love this." Her eyes unexpectedly switched on and her pupils went the deepest of red alarmingly quickly. "Ow," she complained. "Too many colours." Her hand went to her head, carving down between her silver hair. "Too many people yelling."

The Snakes terrorist came forward over to her, looking concerned. "...Canaan? Are you feeling all right?"

Canaan shook her head suddenly and blinked. The red in her eyes vanished in a split second. There had been noise in her head, yelling and shouting from a hundred points at once. Like loads of people were banging on your door at the same time. It wasn't the most pleasant feeling.

"Wha...what just happened?" she said, her voice strained. She looked down at her empty glass in disappointment. "I need another drink."

Alphard grabbed her hand and knocked it away from the glass to stop her. "Canaan, your eyes just went red."

The synesthete stared at her. "You mean I used my synesthesia? Right now?"

"You didn't do it on purpose, did you?"

Canaan shook her head no, looking confused. Her eyes wandered over to the waiter, and she held up her glass to refill it again, lifting it up to her lips.

"Canaan," Alphard said disapprovingly, "put that down for a second."

The synesthete took a sip of the cocktail and almost dropped it. She doubled over like she was going to be sick, clutching at her throat.

"_Canaan!_"

But she straightened up after a second, looking disgusted.

"Ugh!" she gasped, wiping at her mouth again. "That was bad. Very bad." And then her eyes flickered red for another second, before returning to normal. So quickly that you could have almost imagined it. "I don't feel good anymore. I keep seeing colours when I shouldn't be. And I see..." She stared at Alphard in amazement. "Wow!" she gaped. "You have _twins!_"

Alphard had had enough. She grabbed the glass away from her lover before things could get any worse. "You're not allowed to see more than one of me at a time," she ordered.

"But there were two of you." Canaan blinked again. "Now three...and four..." She closed her eyes blissfully, feeling a sharp pain in her head. "Oww...ow."

Alphard moved over to her side of the table and gave her a hug. "You didn't even drink that much," she said.

"I don't need to," Canaan said blearily, squeezing her eyes shut against all the multiple Alphards exploding outside her vision. "Synesthesia ability...sight, smell, hearing, touch and taste...so the effects of any alcohol will be amplified and affect all of my other senses too..." She let herself be snuggled into her lover's body. She couldn't really hear any of the other people in the restaurant anymore. It was all getting a bit loud in her ears. A harsh wind blowing, getting louder all the time.

Alphard looked appalled at her words. "Why didn't you _tell_ me?" she admonished her. "If I'd known, I'd never have given you that to drink..."

"I didn't want to ruin the evening any more than I already...had..." Canaan rubbed her eyes. It didn't work. Closing your eyes was useless when all of your other senses did the seeing for you. "There's so many Alphards in the room right now."

"Really? And how many are holding you right now?"

Canaan tried opening her eyes again, but they felt heavy and overburdened all of a sudden. "Less. A lot less. Like there's..." The roar of the wind became a screaming, and she couldn't even hear her own words anymore.

She opened her eyes and saw a million Alphards speaking to her at once, but no words coming out. Or she couldn't hear them. Canaan nodded her head a little, trying to understand. Her synesthesia was going nuts in all directions. It switched on and off crazily every few seconds, out of her control, so that a surreal rainbow of colours echoed across her vision.

She felt the harsh pain in her stomach and thought she was going to throw up. No, not on Alphard. Maybe on someone else. Then she realised she wasn't able to vomit. Her synesthesia was going _inward._

Her thoughts all frayed and confused, Canaan did the one thing that made sense and grabbed an extra dose of ultra-alcoholic cocktail and chugged it down in one.

She felt her eyes being forced open as her synesthesia penetrated deep, and the howling hurricane threatened to deafen her. Alphard rushed towards her as Canaan fell towards the floor, the darkness closing in on her. She felt her hands reaching out, pushing out at the darkness, but thought she hit something else. Maybe the table. Maybe Alphard. Her mind caved inward at this thought and she struggled to gain some measure of self-control but it felt as if she were too far-gone already.

She hit the floor, grabbing at the cocktail glass again as it smashed into pieces next to her head. One eye dark red, the other eye normal. In the next instant Canaan was covered in blackness and plunged into unconsciousness completely, trying to call out for Alphard.

For some reason she felt as if her body was getting up again and acting on its own completely, but if it was, her mind wasn't with it. She was out in another world completely.

* * *

There was the pain. The loss of memories. Sunlight in her eyes, trying to blind her. Canaan groaned and pushed it away from her. Was she in trouble? An enemy? Gunshots? The wind had stopped roaring. There was just silence.

She heard a sudden _thump_ and crawled herself awake, reaching for her gun. As more pain ricocheted through her head and lower body, she realised what the noise had been. It was her falling out of bed.

Bed? What was she doing in a bed? Canaan wasn't quite conscious enough to maintain a sitting position, but she flailed her limbs around and hit what looked very much looked like the legs underneath the bed.

_ Okay. Think this through. If it's your bed, then you're back home and Natsume is going to come and shoot you - _

She gave a yelp and crawled away to hide under the bed. After several moments, nothing happened. No gunshots. Canaan quickly came back out of cover.

A little voice inside her head suggested that it would always help to open her eyes. Another little voice inside her head suggested that she probably didn't want to do that in case the sight made her die with horror.

Against all suitable judgement, Canaan opened her eyes. Eyes. Something about eyes. Her synesthesia. Going mental.

Oh shit. It was all coming back now. Getting drunk last night with Alphard...except she hadn't even been drunk. She had taken in a little bit of alcohol and the synesthesia had made it a hundred times worse. It was probably the first time it had happened, but she hadn't thought it would quite be this bad.

_I've ruined Alphard's evening again, haven't I?_

But of course Alphard wouldn't see it like that. She was overly-protective of her, or maybe a bit obsessive, even though she denied it...and that would explain her present situation. The last thing Canaan remembered was the explosion of colour and then losing consciousness in the restaurant. Yes, trying not to draw attention. That had gone well.

So it would make sense that Alphard had tried to get her home safe and sound. It wasn't back in Canaan's flat, because nobody was shooting at her. So...maybe she was back at Alphard's house. In her bedroom?

So...the bed that she had just fallen out of was...

Cautiously, Canaan peeped into the bed. There was someone sleeping there very soundly. So Alphard had taken her back to her room. It was sweet of her, but -

It suddenly occurred to Canaan that although Alphard was many things, she was not blonde. And the girl in the bed right now was definitely blonde.

"AAAAAAAAHHHHH!" she screamed.

The girl woke up and saw her.

"AAAAAAAAAHHHH!" she screamed back at her.

"_Maria?_"

"Canaan? _Canaan?_" The camerawoman held the covers up against her. "What – _how?_"

"Maria," Canaan said in rising confusion, "what are you _doing_ in Alphard's bed?!"

Maria was so astonished that she dropped the duvet cover. It uncovered some interesting facts about what lay underneath.

Canaan narrowed her eyes. "You go to sleep without a bra?" she said in amazement.

The blonde girl hunched back and pulled the duvet over her shoulders again. "Canaan!" she cried. "What are you doing in my _flat?" _Her eyes widened further. "And...and...why are you wearing _that?"_

_ This isn't Alphard's house?_

Canaan looked down at herself, expecting to see the sleek and beautiful red dress that Alphard had picked out for her last night. She wasn't wearing it. She was wearing virtually all black and leather in a tight catsuit, like some kind of...like a...

Maria came closer across the bed to stare at her in more detail. "You're dressed as some kind of awesome stealth ninja!" she exclaimed.

Canaan breathed a sigh of relief. Well, that was one way to put it. Just don't let her think of what else it could have been.

"What am I doing here?" she said weakly. "I was out with Alphard last night. Why did I wake up in your bed dressed like this?"

Maria backed away about a metre. "You were in my _bed?_" she said furiously. "What were you _doing?_"

"I don't know! I don't know!" the synesthete wailed. "I passed out and I don't know what happened at all!" Worse, she had felt like although her mind had lost consciousness, her body had kept moving...so she might have done a _lot_ of things last night...

Slowly, the blonde camera girl started to calm down, although she wasn't going to drop the duvet cover any longer. "You went out drinking?" she said, stunned. "But you told me that because you're a synesthete you weren't supposed to..."

"I know! But it happened." Canaan looked truly miserable. "This is the first time it's happened and _anything_ could have happened after that and..."

The phone rang sharply right next to her ear and she howled, diving under the bed. It was Maria's phone, positioned right on the shelf next to the bed. With a sigh, the blonde girl crawled over to answer it.

"Canaan?" she called out. "It's for you."

The synesthete was dumbfounded. _For me? It can't be for me. Who on the world would ring Maria and want to talk to me..._

With a shock, she realised that it might be the exact person who would know the story of how she'd managed to end up in Maria's bed. And whatever had happened last night. _What if I did something really terrible? I already cause Alphard enough trouble when I'm _not_ drunk, so what if I had..._

She leaped for the phone and clutched it like a new-born baby. If it was Yun-Yun on the other end, there was going to be trouble.

* * *

**(Okay, so I didn't get to write this until after midnight...I mean I'd finished watching the finale of Panty and Stocking and then MLP Season 3 premiered today and I MISSED IT D: and was downloading 2GB of episodes just to watch it and I still didn't watch it. And I took about 3 hours trying to get Skyrim working...sigh.**

**but still a chapter's gotta be done every day. I feel that I could have written more about Alphard and Canaan's evening out, maybe about them talking about other stuff before Canaan goes and gets herself drunk, and then she could wake up with Maria in the following chapter. But yeah. Wasn't in the mood for lesbian drama. **

**So yeah. Our next story arc is Canaan's Quest To Find Out What Happened Last Night xD)**


	20. Chapter 20

"Canaan?" said the caller out of the receiver. "Is that you?"

The synesthete relaxed. Not Yun-Yun. Sadly, not Alphard either, although considering that her mind was currently an absolute blank from the past several hours, that could well be a _good_ thing. Japanese accent. No trace of humour. Serious, ruthless, and straight to the point -

"_Natsume?_" she said in horror as her synesthesia kicked in and translated the colour of the woman's voice directly to her. "_You're_ the one? You're the one who can explain everything to me?"

There was a brief silence on the line as both parties took a moment to deduce that they were not on the same length.

"Explain?" Natsume said in bewilderment. "I do not need to explain anything to you. I am here to analyse, interpret and _inform._ I have been researching for the past four hours to get my hands on this information."

"Information?" Canaan was completely lost. "Information about what?"

Natsume clicked tongue. "About _you,_ Canaan!"

The synesthete winced as more jolts of pain went through her skull. The headache hadn't gone away at all. It had worsened since last night considerably, but at least she was still able to stand up. Did this happen to people everytime they got drunk? It didn't seem to bring any benefit whatsoever.

"You see," Natsume continued, brushing past her thoughts with single-minded efficiency, "after doing an extensive background check on your file last night, which took many hours of hard work, I have discovered a fact that has changed the course of the future: you are, after all, _not_ the new Liang Qi."

Maria mouthed a silent question at Canaan from behind the phone, looking confused. Canaan shook her head back, indicating that it really was a long story at this stage.

"And?" she said into the receiver tiredly, holding the side of her head in her elbow to try an minimize the pain in her temples.

"And," Natsume concluded, "if you are not the new Liang Qi, you are not secretly working for Alphard, and so I no longer need to eliminate you."

The headache ebbed away slightly for a moment, allowing the synesthete to process the impact of her words. She may as well have not bothered, though.

"So you're going to stop shooting at me," she evaluated.

"Yes," Natsume confirmed. "Even though a couple of nights ago your girlfriend punched me in the face and did bodily harm to my colleague - "

"Alpard only threw him into the bins!" Canaan protested. "And besides, I think I've got her to agree not to attack you any more."

The Japanese woman's voice suggested no amusement. "That's wonderful, Canaan, because our own plans to take her down have still not changed. So I am issuing a warning...if you continue to associate with Alphard Al'Shuara...then you may be caught in the crossfire." She paused as a deathly silence fell between them. "I have instructed my agents not to fire on you as long as you do not counter-attack - "

"Natsume, this is not the time." Canaan closed her eyes, the dull pain ricocheting through her ears painfully. "You actually rang me up to tell me that you spent the whole of last night determining whether or not I am secretly Liang Qi in disguise."

Natsume's tone brooked complete confidence in her own abilities. "It was time well spent," she said determinedly. "Would you claim to have done something more worthwhile with _your_ hours? What did you do last night."

"I don't know."

"What?" Natsume said in a baffled tone of voice.

Canaan slumped against the side of Maria's bed. "I don't _know_ what I did last night. I woke up with a splitting headache in my friend's bed whilst dressed like a – like – like a _stealth ninja_, and neither of us knows how I got here."

"I see."

"And then you phone me up to tell me that you worked out I was being sarcastic a few days ago and that you're not going to kill me." Canaan clutched at her hair desperately. "I have a _hangover, _I _still_ have no money or phone, and - "

Natsume drew her breath shortly at the other end. "Look on the bright side," she said. "At least we _both_ know you're not really the new Liang Qi."

"You really need to stop going on about that," the synesthete said sharply. "No one really cares anymore." She held her head in her hands. "Natsume, I need help! Where do I _start?_ Did you see me here in Shanghai last night? At all?"

The Japanese woman sounded surprised. "You mean you _left?_"

"Aaargh! Never mind." I should have known it was like this talking to Natsume, Canaan thought. She doesn't understand sarcasm and when she gets confused she just doesn't let go of something and just... "I'd better go," she mumbled. "I have my _memories_ to recollect."

"One thing I should inform you about," Natsume said suddenly before she could put the phone down.

Canaan paused in the middle of hanging up. "_What?_"

"Have you seen your flat recently?"

"My flat?" The silver-haired girl rubbed her eyes, punching the headache out of one side of her forehead. "No. Because _you_ kept shooting at me last time I tried to stay there- "

"Well," Natsume said with a bit of lofty air about herself, "it would be a good place to start your investigations." She added, "And I am not responsible for anything that's happened to it."

Canaan stared at the phone for a moment.

"Are you saying something's happened to my flat?" she said suspiciously.

"If anything _has,_" Natsume said carefully, "then I didn't do it. It already looked like that when I got there this morning."

"Natsume, what's _happened_ to my flat?"

The Japanese woman sniffed. "It's easier for you to see for yourself."

"Why aren't - "

The phone went dead and Canaan threw it halfway across the room, where it annoyingly buried itself in a pair of comfy pillows and settled down to rest.

Natsume! What was she _doing,_ phoning her up for something as stupid as that? Canaan had thought she knew at least _something_ about last night, but it turned out she didn't have a clue. Except about her flat. Yes, if Natsume had tried to get hold of her, and tried calling at her flat...

What had happened to her flat anyway? She had to know. Besides, all her money and belongings had been left behind over there. She had to go there anyway. Maybe her phone was still intact. Maybe burglars hadn't come in through the broken window to loot the entire place.

Minoru came in at this point from the other room, dressed in a dishevelled T-shirt and tie placed loosely around his neck with ill-fitting trousers. He gaped at the two girls when he saw them.

"When did she come in?" he demanded, turning to Maria.

"We don't know," both girls said in unison.

The reporter held his hands up in surrender. "Sorry. I'll let the two of you get dressed." He eyed Canaan's costume for a moment and then dived back into the other room again, slamming the door closed behind him.

Canaan looked sadly down at herself. "Maria, I think I need some new clothes," she said miserably. "I'm not going to go back to my flat looking like Catwoman."

"You can borrow some stuff out of the wardrobe."

The two of them dressed in silence, Maria carefully doing so underneath the duvet covers as if scared that Canaan would catch another glimpse of her. Canaan sighed and turned her back as she kicked off the leather tights. It wasn't as if she was some perverted guy trying to look at her tits, after all. And she had no problem with taking her clothes off in plain sight of Maria, because she trusted her.

Minoru came back into the room some fifteen minutes later, bringing in the breakfast trolley from the hallway. "What's going on?" he said sleepily.

Maria looked over at Canaan as she helped herself to a sandwich. "Canaan, you're leaving already?"

The silver-haired girl mumbled an affirmative reply under her breath. "I have to hurry, Maria. I still don't know what I might have done last night...and I might never be able to contact Alphard this time..."

"You still don't have her number?"

"No, I - "

A flash of memory from before last night's scandal hit Canaan's mind, her eyes widening. That time, when Alphard was screwing her before they left. She'd left Canaan her number on the table! And Canaan had picked it up and...put it in her...pocket...

The pocket of her jeans back then. And then she'd changed into the dress Alphard had picked for her. No go.

Unless...

She ran back to the pile on the floor where lay the black leather costume that she'd somehow woken up in. It was just a small chance, but if...if she'd _remembered..._

_ Yes._

There was a crumpled up piece of paper stuffed down the front pocket of her clothes. How had it been moved, she wondered? Canaan didn't know. Maybe, unconsciously, she had moved it herself last night, knowing that she would need it later? Or Alphard had done it or...well, it didn't matter now. She couldn't even remember what she had done at all.

Alphard's number was written on the paper neatly in front of her. Canaan felt like kissing it, but then decided it would look a bit weird right now.

She looked at Maria beseechingly. "Can I - "

"You can ring her, Canaan," Minoru said, surprising the two of them. "What?" he said, glancing down at himself self-consciously. "I'm not going to stop her."

There was a deep silence in the stuffed room as Canaan painstakingly dialled Alphard's number and waited patiently. Last time she had done this, she had reached Liang Qi and all hell had broken loose. But not now. Now she would hear Alphard's voice. Now she would be able to speak to Alphard and find just what had gone on last night -

_"Hello, you've reached the voicemail of Alphard Al'Shuara."_

Canaan froze and almost dropped the phone. It was Alphard all right, but maybe she had recorded it from a while ago.

_"I am currently away from the phone but please leave a message and I will get back to you shortly. If you have queries about the stocks and shares of the Daedala Corporation, please press 1. If you wish to report fraudulent activity leading directly from the Daedala Corporation and have been referred to me, please press 2. If you have an enquiry about..."_

"This is taking forever," Minoru muttered, sitting down in the corner to munch away at the tray of sandwiches.

Canaan slumped on top of the bed, waiting for the list to finish. It had reached to seven. No, eight. And then...

_"If you are calling about Canaan, please press 9. If none of these options apply to you, please hold and you will be shortly be transferred to my sister, who will be pleased to help you."_

Oh. Shit.

"Press nine! Press nine!" Maria yelled.

"I _am!_" Canaan shouted back, stabbing at the button.

_Beep._

There was a crackle over the line for a few moments, and then someone else's voice came over the machine.

_"MWAHAHAHAHAHA!"_

Minoru almost dropped his sandwich.

_"This is Liang Qi and I have hijacked my dear sister's phone!_" bleated the answering machine evilly. _"Now you shall NEVER be connected to her again, ever! You'll fucking pay for doing that to my room, to my dear Alphard photos, oh you will PAY, Canaan!"_

Canaan tried to take this all in. So last night she'd done something to Liang Qi's room. Right. That was something, at least. It wasn't good news at all, but it was something.

The answering machine was still going.

_"I have already planned my torture of you and all your twisted little friends!"_ Liang Qi's recorded voice ranted on.

Maria looked up in annoyance. "Did she just call me twisted?" she whispered.

"_And your stupid friend Maria probably wonders why I called her twisted, and that's because ANYONE who would be so fucking evil to want to be your friend, Canaan, WOULD be twisted and messed up in the head! And soon death shall rain from the skies. The lovely scent of blood. MWAHAHAHA! And then we will catch little gerbils in the fields and eat them."_

"Can you turn that off?" Maria said pleadingly.

_"And after I killed you at last, Canaan, you fucking bitch, after you are ALL dead, you know what I'm going to do?"_ Liang Qi cackled madly. "_I'll bring you all back to life and you'll be ZOMBIES! MWAHAHAHAHA! And then I can kill you again. And you'll wander around looking for brains to munch on! BRAINS! BR-BR-BR-BRAINS! What do you think of THAT?"_

Canaan quickly hung up the phone. "Sorry," she muttered. "I should have expected that. I think I need to get back to my flat right now. I need to see what happened."

Maria got to her feet too. "I'm coming with you," she insisted.

Minoru looked irritated at the two of them. "Well, then, I'm forced to come with you too," he said, looking quite put out. "This is not how I expected to wake up in the morning." He looked at Canaan with new-found admiration. "I swear, Canaan, everytime you visit something amazing happens."


	21. Chapter 21

**( was down for ages so it was a pain uploading this...D:)**

* * *

Canaan's flat was a bombshell when the three of them got there. As in, it actually _looked_ like it had been hit by a bomb. There wasn't a door or a ceiling anymore, just a giant crater where the room had been. Chunks of the bed were lying inside the surrounding houses which had also been affected. The sink had been ripped off the wall completely, or what remained of the wall, and was in pieces several metres away down the street.

The three friends gaped at the total destruction of the building. Already there was yellow tape around the whole area as police surveyed the damage done to the surrounding homes. Canaan was a bit annoyed by that. They were helping repair the people's houses next door, but not her actual flat.

"Why aren't they repairing my flat?" Canaan demanded. "It's the one that's been most badly hit!"

"I think that's your answer," Minoru said in a low voice.

Maria was busy writing in her reporter's notepad, jotting down everything she could hear the other police saying as other reporters zoomed in on the scene. "They're all saying that it happened in the dead of night and when they all woke up, they saw this. People are saying a bomb went off in the flat and that they're very lucky that no one was hurt."

"They're wrong," Canaan said stubbornly. "Because _I'm_ hurt. I have _insurance_ on this. They need to repair my flat."

"Canaan, they're treating it as a terrorist attack," Minoru said. "It's not the best time to tell the police that you were living here."

"Where else am I going to live?" the silver-haired girl said bitterly. "All my belongings were in there! And my phone! I'm going to have to work double contracts for Natsume to get everything back now!"

She turned away from the yellow tape, frustrated. Minoru was right: she musn't draw attention to herself. Maybe this was Liang Qi's revenge against whatever she had done to her room last night. Especially when knowing that this was probably a terrorist attack. It would make the most sense.

I really need to know what happened last night, she thought. Okay, so I did something bad to Liang Qi's room. Maybe I trashed it or something. And now something happened to my flat. And the black catsuit costume in Maria's bed.

_I really need to talk to Alphard. She was with me the whole time, wasn't she? She might be the only one who knew what happened. There has to be another way to contact her._

Her eyes lit up suddenly. "Maria, do you still have your mobile on you?"

The blonde camerawoman nodded. "What are you going to do?"

"I can call Natsume back on the same number she called you on, and ask her to trace the call of Alphard's phone. Even if Liang Qi's using it, it'll give me a location. Then I'll be able to speak to Alphard."

Maria passed it over, and Canaan punched the call-back button. It was a matter of time before she heard Natsume's voice on the line again.

"Canaan," said the Japanese woman, "I'm so glad you called me. I've discovered a new gem of information."

The synesthete hesitated, not sure whether she should be excited or whether this would be like Natsume's previous "gem" of information.

"I have discovered," Natsume declared, "the meaning of love."

Maria and Minoru exchanged glances, then looked at Canaan, who was refraining from jumping for joy at this latest development.

"You see," Natsume continued, "after your subtle hint some time ago about you and Alphard being "a thing", as I quote, I decided to look into our main database files to look at the meaning for love in greater depth. And I am deeply satisfied to say that I have produced results."

"Natsume..."

"Let me show you the fruits of my efforts. I have here a quote." Natsume cleared her throat and began to read aloud. " "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day..." "

"Natsume, please - "

The Japanese woman showed no intention of stopping. "This one is especially prominent. "O Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art thou Romeo? Deny thy father and refuse thy name; or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love - " "

Canaan exploded. "_Natsume!_ Will you stop reading Shakespeare out to me for just a single moment! I need you to contact Alphard for me!"

Natsume paused in her epic narration for a moment. "I beg your pardon?"

"I have Alphard's number here. I want you to trace the location." Canaan pulled out the scrap of paper from her pocket and read the number slowly on the line. "Did you get all that?"

The Japanese woman did not conceal her displeasure. "I would much rather prefer to inform you of my dedicated research into love and Shakespeare rather than - "

"Natsume, my flat has been _blown up_ and this is the only lead I have!" Damn headache was coming back. Canaan cursed humanity for its aches and pains. What did people do to get rid of such things? Bash their head on a wall until it went away? It seemed like a good idea right now.

Natsume sighed. "Very well. I shall trace the call for you, but I warn you that it will only be within the past twenty four hours with the time I have, so it may not be very accurate. I would like you to know that I am only doing this so that I have a greater chance of bring Alphard to justice - "

"That's wonderful." Canaan bit back the words a moment too late, realising that her sarcasm would probably be lost.

"Bear with me for a minute. The call was recent, so it shouldn't take too long."

Canaan relaxed a little, letting the phone rest in her hands shortly. She really was stranded now, and relying on Maria just to make one little phone call was doing her head in. It wasn't the only thing, either. She clutched at her silver hair, stuck to her face, pain going up her skull.

"You could do with some aspirin," Maria said, looking concerned. "I guess hangovers are worse for synesthetes too."

Canaan looked up at her hopefully. "Aspirin? Do you have any?"

"Sorry," the blonde camera-girl said awkwardly. "Just trying to help. Maybe Alphard can give you some when you find her - "

"_If_ I find her." The phone suddenly came to life again and Canaan leaped at it, listening intently to Natsume's voice on the other side. She frowned and nodded with the words. "Okay. I got it. See you there." She clicked off the phone and handed it back to Maria. "Natsume's traced the call back to...a warehouse here in Shanghai. She said she's going to meet us there."

Even out loud the words didn't make any sense. Here? Alphard wasn't _here._ She wouldn't be in the city right now when everyone was trying to take her down. It must be a mistake, or a technical error somehow. Unless...Alphard was coming here to find Canaan and take her back...?

Take her back. The words made Canaan feel giddy inside. The flat she had rented was here in Shanghai, but that home was no longer an option for her. She could rent another place here, of course, once she'd acquired enough money, but everytime she thought of Alphard...she thought of being at Alphard's place. As if she wanted to live with her as well. Maybe it was selfish or foolish, but Canaan just couldn't get the thought out of her head. _And she would want me there with her, too. That is if I didn't say or do anything last night to completely ruin our last chance at a relationship._

"Let's go," Maria chorused. "Where is it? Is it far from here?"

"It's on the other side of the city. We'll have to take a train."

Minoru raised a hand. "Hold it. Hold it." He glanced at the police officers behind them cautiously for an instant, then back to them. "You want all of us to go with you halfway across Shanghai so that you can ring your girlfriend and find out happened last night whilst you were drunk out of your head."

Canaan looked at him curiously. "You have a problem with that?"

"Just a little," said the reporter testily. "I don't really see the point of me being here. I woke up this morning and saw you and suddenly your flat has been blown up and before long Liang Qi is probably going to come threatening us again. I should be in Japan, not running around chasing after terrorists who would shoot me on sight if they could." He took a step back from them and almost tripped over a loose stone. "So I'm out of here. I'm on the next plane home. This has nothing to do with me, all right?"

Maria turned towards him beseechingly. "But I thought you were here to protect me," she whined.

"Screw that," Minoru said blankly. "You'll be surrounded by more aggressive gun-toting lesbians than...than..." He failed to think up a suitable comparison. "Whatever. You'll be safer without me messing things up."

Canaan looked confused. "Did you just call me and Natsume lesbians?" she said.

"Er..." The reporter desperately looked for a way out, but saw none. "Aren't you?"

"It's just that I don't think Natsume knows what the word means. Not that I'm going to tell her," she added, looking disgusted. Natsume would probably spend the next week researching the term otherwise. "Fine, Minoru, you go home and read the paper or something. Maria, you're still with me, right?"

Maria smiled happily. "Of course. I'll help you out with fighting and um...well, not fighting, but I can show you the way to...oh wait, this isn't Japan so I won't know that either...um...I could take photos for you!" Her face fell. "Except I left my camera in Japan too...erm..."

The synesthete looked at her helplessly.

"I think this is why I'm usually the one saving you," she said quietly. "You can give me spiritual guidance or something."

Maria brightened up. "Like a Buddha?"

"Pardon?" Canaan blinked. "No. Not like a Buddha." She scratched her head. "What's a Buddha?"

The three of them just looked at each other, looking totally confused.

"Can we go now?" Canaan tried, and then ran for the train station before anyone could reply.

* * *

**(If you're still curious about Canaan did do last night they find out next chapter. That is if it isn't too long o:**

**Also, halfway through Nanowrimo now! YAY!)**


	22. Chapter 22

They ended up stopping off at the newsagent's on the way to meet Natsume because Canaan felt like her skull was about to split open. Muttering a hasty apology to Maria that she would pay her back later, even though the young camerawoman didn't seem to mind, the two of them tore through the door to get some much-needed aspirin. Canaan started to gulp it down until the storekeeper advised her to wash it down with water. She ignored him.

It didn't seem to do much at all at first, but seconds later Canaan felt the pain receding at long last. She dropped to her knees and started to thank the stars in devout prayer, then realised that praying in the middle of a newsagent's wasn't exactly the norm around here and ran out after Maria again.

"That was fast." Maria commented as they got off the last stop on the train where they were supposed to meet with Natsume. "Aspirin usually only works with small pains for me. I'm surprised it had any effect on you at all."

"I guess it was the synesthesia emphasising the effect of the drug," Canaan replied. She didn't really care for the details. The pain was gone, for now, although the after-effects still loomed bleakly in the back of her mind. Now she could focus again on talking to Alphard. "Maria," she said, as another thought hit her, "have you heard from Yun-Yun lately?"

"Yun-Yun?" The blonde photographer shook her head. "No. Why?"

"No reason," Canaan said blankly, pushing aside the memory of Yun-Yun plunging down the wrong chute with her in Snake headquarters. The Borner could have ended up anywhere. She couldn't help feeling a little bit worried about her.

Natsume was waiting for them at the next street corner. She adjusted her glasses warily as Canaan approached and frowned at Maria, as if wondering why she was here as well. She didn't question her presence, however, but held up a single object towards them. It looked very familiar.

"I've been trying to contact you for the past hour, Canaan," she said irritably. "There's nothing in the warehouse. I only found the mobile device from where the number was traced to. There's nothing else here but this phone."

"We were in a tunnel," Maria objected. "You couldn't phone us anyway."

Natsume whirled around towards her. "Why are you here again?" she said idly. "I appreciate your interest in Canaan's affairs, but continuing in this fashion will only get you killed when Alphard sees you - "

"Leave it, Natsume," Canaan said calmly. "You said you found a phone?"

The Japanese woman held it towards them for identification. "There's a number of calls on it to Alphard, Maria...and to myself. I decided not to give it more detailed analysis until you arrived, but - "

"What the - ?" The synesthete grabbed the phone right from her grasp, barely able to believe what she was seeing. "Of course there is! That's because this is _my_ phone!" She hugged it to her like a lost child. "I thought it had been blown up with the rest of my flat!"

That was a relief. Even if she had lost all her money and belongings in whatever had befallen her house, her phone was still intact. Canaan quickly perused through the string of calls made yesterday. They were all to Alphard. They were all made in the early hours of the morning – times when she had been definitely unconscious, times that she did not remember.

"Why is Canaan's phone all the way over here?" Maria questioned. "That doesn't make any sense."

Nobody had an answer for her. Canaan tried to fit this extra piece to the jigsaw. Flat blown up. Trashed Liang Qi's room. Dressed in latex gear – no, _stealth ninja._ Woke up in Maria's flat. Left phone in some abandoned warehouse on the other side of the city.

She checked the numbers on the phone again and frowned, looking back and forward from the screen to the crumpled paper in her hand. "These numbers are _different_," she said, realising. "The number Alphard gave me is different to the number that is on my phone..."

Natsume shrugged. "So maybe this other number will get through to her. You can ring her properly now." She adjusted her shirt and looked at Canaan levelly. "Before you ring her, I want to ask you something. Did you find out what happened to your flat?"

"No," Canaan said. "I'm pretty sure Alphard will know, though."

"Knowing you, this would leave the state of your finances crippled. I see." Natsume nodded slowly. "In that case, you will be in need of money. I can offer you a contract right now. If you take it, I can guarantee payment as soon as you give me a new working address."

Canaan hesitated, badly wanting to talk to Alphard. But she did need money. It wouldn't hurt to hear what this contract was. Alphard could wait five minutes.

"All right," she said testily. "What's the mission?"

"There's a member of Snake I want you to take down," Natsume said. "Serving as a double-agent, he betrayed our organisation to - "

"Wait. Wait." Canaan stopped her before she could say any further. "I don't know if Alphard would like me killing her own people. I'll have to ask her if I can do it."

The Japanese woman looked exasperated. "You can't ask the ruthless leader of the Snakes if you can kill one of her agents! You'll ruin the whole mission!"

Canaan shrugged. Alphard seemed all right with her killing her sister off. Maybe she didn't mind a lower employee kicking the bucket. "Don't you have a different contract? Which _doesn't_ involve killing Snakes?"

Natsume grumbled for a while and brought her own phone up, scrolling down for several seconds, muttering about how bounty hunters should stop developing feelings for people who were supposed to be dead.

"Will you do a mission if it still targets the Snakes?" she said finally.

"Depends."

"This one's a stealth mission," said Natsume. "You just need to gather some specific information about one of the projects that the Snakes are working on and get it to me. You'll probably have to get close to Alphard so that you can get your hands on the - "

The synesthete held up a hand again. "Stop right there," she said. "You're asking me to betray Alphard's trust in me."

Natsume looked at her and frowned, trying to gauge what exactly was wrong with this. She glanced at Maria for help, but the blonde photographer was staring into space happily and snapping up photos of bird-nests.

"Is that a problem?" she said eventually.

Canaan screwed up her face in concentration, seeming conflicted. "I'll do it," she said, "because I really do need the money, but I'm going to have to ask Alphard's permission to betray her."

Natsume still looked dubious. "So...is that a "yes"?" she asked.

"I guess so." The silver-haired girl sighed, not really liking this contract at all. On the other hand, she thought, as long as she discussed with Alphard at some point, it was probably all good. "Hang on," she said suddenly, "is this "project" anything to do with the gigantic bomb that Alphard keeps in the basement?"

The Japanese woman's eyes went wide.

"They've got a _gigantic bomb?_" she demanded, typing furiously into her phone. "Where? When? What is this? This could be crucial information which could aid my ultimate goal into bringing the Snakes down once and for all!"

"It's just some bomb," Canaan said vaguely, regretting that she'd ever brought it up. "It looks a bit boring. Alphard gave it to me as a present."

"I will initiate intensive reconnaissance on this gigantic bomb _at once,_" Natsume declared, her eyes not leaving her phone as her fingers moved as if possessed. "This could be the new evil plan of the Snakes as they spread terrorism and fear worldwide..."

The synesthete opened her mouth to say, No, maybe not, because the bomb is so big that you'd need a rocket to get it out of the room and Alphard only gave it to me because...well, I don't know why she gave it to me. Because of the fish? No, not because of the fish. Because she likes bombs. Yes. That's why.

Maria took a break from her photo-snapping to look over at the two of them. "Are you going to ring Alphard yet?" she said.

"Oh, yes."

Anxiously, the silver-haired girl keyed in Alphard's number – her real number, not the one taken over by Liang Qi – and waited anxiously for a reply.

It dialled once and then her ear was completely deafened by the reply.

"CANAAN!"

"Aieeeeee!" the synesthete howled, dropping the phone as the voice went through both her ears. She caught the phone quickly with her other hand before it could smash on the ground. That would _not_ be a good move right now.

"Canaan, you're all right!" Alphard's voice. _Yes._ _I've done it. I've got through to her. Even if she can't tell me anything either, this will all have been worth it. _"I was so worried about you after what happened last night!"

Canaan felt her tongue dry up in her mouth. "Last night...?" she said weakly. "I...what did I do last night?"

The Snakes terrorist didn't sound surprised at all. "I thought you probably wouldn't remember. You were in such a state. Synthesia in one eye, normal human in the other..." She laughed at the memory. "I guess you want me to tell you what really happened?"

"Yeah," Canaan said blearily. A moment later, she shook her furiously, and pulled herself together, cursing herself for being so tongue-tied at now of all times. "Yes I _do!" _she yelled into the phone manically. "The last thing I remember was falling unconscious at the restaurant! And I woke up all the way here in Ma- " _Uh-oh. Whatever you do, _don't_ tell her whose bed you woke up in. _"I woke up all the way over here. My flat is a _bombshell!_ I've trashed your sister's room! _What did I do last night, Alphard?!_"

"Hey," came her lover's voice at the other end soothingly. "Calm down. I remember, Canaan. Just cool it for now. I can tell you everything." She gave an awkward laugh. "Well, most of it anyway..."

"W-what?"

"Because you were so drunk that I decided that I might as well get drunk too. Anyway. That doesn't matter." Alphard cleared her throat. "I remember all the really important parts. Where do you want me to start?"

Canaan tried not to panic. "_Start?_"

"Well, how do I say this..." The leader of the Snakes paused reflectively. "Do you want me to start with what happened before or after the strip club?"

There was a deathly silence at the other end. Canaan shut her eyes in grim terror, knowing that her two companions were looking at her in a very questionable fashion.

"Strip club?" Maria repeated.

"Strip club?" Natsume joined in. Then she looked confused and whispered conspiratorially, "What's a strip club?"

Maria whispered in her ear for some time, and Natsume's expression soon changed. She raised her head and looked at Canaan in a new light.

"Natsume," the synesthete begged, "can you please go round the corner for the next ten minutes or something?" She lowered her mouth back to the receiver. "_Before_ the strip club," she hissed nervously. "If there was ever a strip club. Which there _wasn't._"

Alphard smirked on the other end of the line. "Canaan," she said with evident relish, "you have no idea."

* * *

**(Okay. I admit it. I WAS intending to reveal everything that ever-so-innocent Canaan did the night before but...**

**...**

**next chapter I swear. =/ cross my heart, hope for pie, stick a yun-yun in my eye.)**


	23. Chapter 23

She managed to get Natsume to leave them at last and get some privacy. The Japanese woman's raised eyebrows showed just how much she disapproved of the whole affair. But perhaps part of that was due to the sudden knowledge about Canaan being in a strip club. _Except that wasn't _me,Canaan thought desperately. _I don't do things like that._

Her heart missed a beat. What else had happened up to then? By the way Alphard was talking, it wasn't the worst by far. At least they still had a relationship. Alphard didn't seem to be angry with her about anything, so she probably _hadn't _flirted with a bunch of other girls at the same time or something. Part of her was afraid to ask what she _had_ done.

"Okay, start again," she said, once Alphard had called her back again. The Snakes terrorist had insisted on changing the direction of the call, on account of Canaan having a questionable amount of money left on her phone, and Alphard having virtually unlimited credit. "What happened after I fainted in the restaurant."

There was a pause on the line at this. Then Alphard said, "You don't want to leave that bit until later?"

"No, I don't."

"Because we can leave that bit until later if you like," Alphard said helpfully. "We could always start at the end, and then get the worst over with."

Canaan gritted her teeth. "_No._ I definitely want you to start at the very beginning. Don't leave anything out."

"Fine. You asked for it." The leader of the Snakes licked her lips on the phone. "So, starting at the restaurant. You looked like you'd fainted after that last drink, but then you suddenly started getting up and moving about again. And then you started dancing. It was a pretty uncanny sight."

Canaan struggled to find the words. Her tongue decided to tie itself in a knot again. "I...b-but..."

"And singing," Alphard continued. "And I had to take your gun away because you looked like you were going to shoot the waiters. You had a really unique way of dancing which knocked over every table in the restaurant."

"I...I..." The synesthete buried her head in her hands. This is it, she thought. I'm never going to be able to eat there again. Just as well, really. "I _trashed_ the restaurant?" she whispered.

"Oh, don't worry. I can pay for that too. But I'm not sure if I can be bothered to do the paperwork myself." Alphard seemed a bit too cheerful for her usual self, leading Canaan to believe that the two of them really had been drunk last night. Maybe it was worse than what she was making it out to be. But you couldn't tell with Alphard, anyway. "Let's see. You then took the dinner plates and strapped them to the bottom of your feet and used them as roller blades, then used them to fly out of the front door of the restaurant - "

"Alphard, are you making this up?!"

The Snakes terrorist seemed genuinely affronted. "Me? Make stuff up? I wish I could make _this_ kind of stuff up!"

"I didn't do any of that!" Canaan wailed. "I wasn't even awake at the time! This sounds like a day in the life of Yun-Yun!"

Alphard chewed her lip reflectively for a moment. "Yeah...speaking of Yun-Yun..."

"What?"

"You kind of mentioned her a few times," she said, "once we were out of the restaurant. I didn't follow most of it because you started speaking in Italian."

Canaan felt completely confused now. "I don't even _know_ Italian."

"You were speaking a lot of languages," Alphard said. "I didn't recognise most of them except Italian, Latin and a long-lost dialect of Southern Mongolia. Anyway. That's not the point." She took a deep breath. "This might scar you, Canaan, but when you were on the road with me last night, you did something horrifying."

The synesthete hunched her shoulders together, hugging her knees in tight. "Wh...what did I do?"

"Canaan," the older woman said in a deathly whisper, "you made a _Yun-Yun apprecation society._"

In the ensuing silence that followed, the synesthete had to shake the phone a little to reassure herself that Alphard was still on the line.

"That's not too bad," she said, feeling relieved. "I mean - "

"No, Canaan," Alphard said dramatically. "It is a terrible thing. I think you're just lucky that you've disbanded already."

"I...what?" Canaan struggled to keep up.

"You recruited a tramp and a lost puppy to join your club, and then you hugged a lamp post and decided to disband the club." Alphard sighed happily. "But anyway. That's probably all the important events of last evening."

Canaan fought to keep the disbelief form her voice. "That's...all?"

"Absolutely."

There was silence on the phone for several more seconds.

"Up to the strip club, anyway," Alphard said easily. "But I don't suppose you want to know - "

"Yes I _do!_" Canaan felt like screaming at the phone. "TELL ME!"

"Fine, fine." The Snakes terrorist decided to stop teasing her and let the truth out at last. "You took me to a gay bar. Whilst singing the song."

The synesthete realised at this point that Maria was eavesdropping on her from outside the door. She let it go; Maria might as well listen. It couldn't get much worse.

"A gay bar," Alphard continued, "with strippers. I don't think you knew that there were going to be strippers."

The silver-haired girl moaned into the phone, "Please tell me that I didn't - "

"Yes you did," Alphard said happily.

"NOOOOOOO!"

"And they threw you out. Standard rule in strip clubs, even if they're full of lesbians." Alphard smiled inwardly on her end. "You can look but you can't touch."

"W-wait..." Canaan said slowly, not understanding. "I thought you said _I_ was a stripper."

The Snakes terrorist snorted. "Don't be absurd. Although," she added, "you ended up doing that later - "

"WHAT?"

"But I'm getting to that. Anyway." Alphard cleared her throat, mouth dry from talking so much. "After we both got thrown out, I thought we'd both had enough and just brought you home to my place. And you kept saying stuff to me along the way."

Canaan almost didn't want to ask, but she just had to know. "What...what kind of things did I say?"

"Nice things," Alphard said smoothly. "Sweet things." She paused to contemplate for a second, smiling as she remembered. "You said a lot of things, but it's nice to know that you're almost as active as I am."

Canaan went cold. "What do you mean?"

"I especially liked the part when you wanted me to tie you up and have sex with you. Now _that_ was probably the highlight of - "

"Nooooo! Stop right there!" Canaan was gibbering in fright. How could she have said something like_ that_ last night? "I don't remember _any_ of this! I don't remember going to any clubs or anything, or saying anything sexual to you! How do I know you're not making all of this _up?_ How do I know _any_ of this actually happened?!"

Alphard pursed her lips and scanned a picture in her other hand, smiling whilst keeping on the phone. "Because," she said casually, "I took a few photos whilst we were out. It was too tempting to resist."

_Oh no. No. Anything but that. The _last_ thing I need right now is for Alphard to have a hold on me to get me to do anything she wants._

"And no, I haven't shown them to anyone. Yet." The leader of the Snakes pronounced that last word very distinctively. "Now, where was I? Oh yes. We were both supposed to get changed when I brought you back to my house, but then you decided to be a real stripper. You know. For an audience of one."

"I never..." Canaan repeated, trying to avert this entire nightmare.

"Yes you did," Alphard replied with a predatory smile. "And you asked me to take you right there on my bed." She smirked to herself. "I know you were drunk, Canaan, but when those thoughts in your subconsciousness emerge..."

"Alphard, let me get _one_ thing straight! Whatever my subconscious thoughts are, they aren't about stripping or – or trashing a restaurant – or - " Canaan ran out of examples completely, her hands shaking. "I wouldn't do any of those things!" she pleaded. "That's not me at all!"

"Oh, sure," Alphard said calmly. "It was probably your synesthesia out of control in the beginning when you started roller-skating on dinner plates and rolling around drunk in a strip club. What you did in my bedroom?" She laughed shortly. "I was going to do that to you sooner or later."

"W-wait!" Canaan's hand flew to her legs anxiously. "Do you mean...did you actually..." She couldn't say the words, but forced herself. "Do you mean you actually took advantage of me and actually..." She gulped.

Alphard sighed. "I was tempted. But no. Just in case you really were so out of your mind and wouldn't remember it. And I thought, it's all good for you being my sex slave but what's the point if you don't remember it? I could easily do it to you the next day, after all."

The synesthete let her breath out in a rush. She hadn't felt so relieved to hear it for a long time. _We didn't do it after all. Thank goodness. Not that I wouldn't want to, but I'd want to _remember _it at least. __Even though my synesthesia had gone crazy and my body was moving on its own. My mind wasn't there at all. Even if I did do all those things that Alphard claimed I did...I would never have the guts to do any of that. That's the kind of thing Alphard does, not me. _

"Did anything else happen?" she said. There were still definite holes from the explanation.

"A little," Alphard said testily, her voice hardening. "You got a bit frustrated when I refused you, so you went and trashed the place a little."

"But I wouldn't - "

"And again, don't worry about it. You didn't do much." Alphard quickly amended what she'd just said. "Apart from throw paint all over the inside of my sister's bedroom. She has a lot of dedicated photos that she keeps on the wall, and apparently you went and ruined them all."

"Photos...?" Canaan said weakly. "Of - "

"Of me, obviously. Which is why she's in another murderous rage right now, and stole another one of my phones. Little sisters, you know." Alphard sighed. "And soon afterwards, you went and hijacked one of my helicopters, although I managed to get into the helicopter with you just as you were leaving the ground. I think you were trying to get home. And you were trying to cause damage at the same time."

Canaan felt her heart plummet in her throat. This part, at least, was starting to make sense. "I got home, didn't I," she said numbly.

"Yes, and you didn't really know how to operate the weapons very well...so you dropped a bomb over the side."

"And that's why my flat is all blown up," Canaan said sadly. "Because _I_ blew it up." She hit herself in the forehead with her fist.

"I could always buy you a new one," the Snakes terrorist said gently. "It's no trouble. After that, I offered to take you home in the helicopter that you'd stolen, but then you flew us all the way back here somehow, and then you ran off on foot wearing this black latex costume and said you were going to swim back to Shanghai."

The synesthete had not been expecting this last bit.

"I swam," she repeated.

"Yeah."

"I _swam_ back to Shanghai." The words still sounded crazy in her mouth. "I swam back to _Shanghai._"

"You only live once," Alphard said cheerfully.

Canaan glared into the receiver, willing the full force of her glare to come out of the other side and hit Alphard in the face. "And that's it." _It better be it. I can't take much more after this._

"That's it," the leader of the Snakes confirmed. "That's an ordinary day out with Canaan being really drunk. Now, I've talked long enough. How about I come over and pick you up?"


	24. Chapter 24

**(this site keeps crashing when I want to upload a new chapter...gah. And I hit 30k words for my nanowrimo last chapter! Woo!)**

* * *

Maria was all awash with excitement and a bubble of talkative goodness when she get off the phone. "Canaan!" she gushed, springing over to glomp her friend painfully. "Why didn't you _tell_ me you had such a good time?"

"I'm...not sure I did," Canaan began, but her words fell on deaf ears.

"Dancing and singing and clubbing! And bombs! And swimming!" The photographer couldn't stop the grin from extending across her face, her eyes rolling up as she imagined it. "Sugoi sugoi sugoi...I'm so jealous. I wish I had been in your shoes."

"You really don't." The synesthete looked at her helplessly. "Maria, Alphard's coming to pick me up in ten minutes and if she sees you around me being really close like this - "

Maria nodded. "I know. She's coming to take you back to her house, right?"

"That's the plan, I think." _For now, anyway. I don't know when I'll get proper fixed accommodation again and Alphard can't let me stay over forever even if she's got more money than I'll ever have and if I try and explain that to her then she'll just say - _

Maria punched the ear enthusiastically. "Then this time I'm coming with you!" she declared.

"Right, right," Canaan said absent-mindedly, not really listening. _How am I going to tell Alphard that I _can't_ keep staying over at her house? Even if she doesn't feel bad about doing it, I _do,_ and – _She blinked as the full impact of what her friend had just said hit her. Not like a freight train, but of a similar charge. "Wait what?" she said numbly. "You're..."

"I'm coming withyou," Maria said happily. "Now that I brought my camera along I'll be able to take lots of photographs with you and Alphard in the city." Her eyes lit up. "And the view from the helicopter! Sugoi! I can't wait!" She suddenly seemed to realise that Canaan wasn't exactly sharing in her enthusiasm. "Alphard won't mind, right?"

"Yeah...about that." Canaan wondered how to break this to the blonde photographer. How did you say this kind of thing in a _nice _way? Sorry, Maria, but my girlfriend gets jealous _very_ easily and as soon as your name is even mentioned she starts getting moody and it's best that she never sees you at all? No, I can't say that.

"We're a bit busy today," she said lamely instead.

This had the opposite effect. "That's wonderful!" Maria applauded her. "Then I'll have even more pictures to take for the whole day!"

"The...the _whole_ day?" Canaan stuttered. Uh-oh. Maria wanted to stay for _more_ than just a few harmless hours? "That might not be the best idea. You know. Liang Qi is around and she hates you."

"But she hates you a lot more, doesn't she? If you can steer clear of her and spend the whole day with Alphard, then so can I, right?"

Canaan desperately tried to think of something a bit more concrete to dissuade Maria. In the distance, she could hear chopper blades. Helicopter chopper blades. She didn't have much time. Alphard was probably coming to get her as fast as she could.

"Maria, listen," she said urgently. "You can't come with us."

The blonde photographer pouted innocently. "Why not?"

"Because it's _private. _We'll be doing...um...private things." Canaan immediately regretting saying that last bit. "Not like that," she said hastily. "In fact. We won't be doing private things. We'll be doing _public_ things. Public and private," she amended again. "And they don't mix. Which is why we're doing them. I mean, we're not doing them. And that," she finished in one breath, "is why you should not come."

Maria's blank expression was characteristic of the blank pages that an author sticks at the end of a book for no discernible reason. She blinked and squinted a little.

"I won't disturb you or anything," she said seriously. "If you want to have a moment then I'll head out on my own and just go out taking pictures and - "

"Maria, if you go out on your own then you'll get into some kind of trouble and then I'll end up saving you," said Canaan in exasperation.

"And I'm sure Alphard wouldn't mind."

"She does mind," the synesthete said very positively. "She minds everything about you. She's probably allergic to your blood." Damn it. She had to say it out loud. "Okay, fine. She's _jealous_ of you, Maria. If you come with us then she's going to go crazy."

Maria's eyes widened. "Really? But I'm only coming to take photographs. That's all. What if I tell her I'm not going to talk to you, or touch you, or kiss you, or have sex with you, or grope you - "

"Maria, that isn't - "

"Please?" her blonde friend said beseechingly. "Pretty please?" She clutched at Canaan's hands, looking up at her in a pleading fashion. "Please, Canaan! I just want to follow my childhood dream of becoming a photographer!"

"You already are a photographer," the synesthete pointed out.

"Then I want to _continue_ to follow my childhood dream of being a photographer!"

The helicopter blades were right on top of them now. Quickly, Canaan pushed Maria's hands away from her. Alphard was here. And judging by the distance between them and the helicopter, she might have seen how close Maria's body was to hers. And she might have jumped to some very bad conclusions.

_Maybe she didn't see us, _Canaan thought hopefully.

The helicopter landed a short distance away. It was Cummings at the helm, piloting it. And Alphard marched out after a small patrol of two guards. She looked stunning as usual, suspenders and jacket included, but the set of her jaw suggested that perhaps she _had_ seen what had been going on in the ground.

Canaan slapped her forehead and groaned. Great. Maria had managed to piss off Alphard already just by standing there.

"Hello, Canaan," the leader of the Snakes said in a carefully controlled voice, deliberately looking right at her. She ignored Maria, as if the girl was invisible. In the circumstances, things might be going a lot better if she really was invisible. "I've come to take you back. Are you coming?"

Maria mouthed something to Canaan from the side of the pavement which Alphard had taken to be invisible. She had taken it to be invisible because it contained Maria. Canaan frowned, trying to decipher what Maria was mouthing at her, and decided not to bother. _I am not going to go up to Alphard and ask her to let Maria on board. It's unhealthy for the two of us and it's suicidal. I already dropped _one_ bombshell last night..._

"Canaan!" Maria called out, refusing to give up. "Canaan, tell her that I want to come too!"

The synesthete stopped in mid-step towards the helicopter. She was suddenly very, very glad that Alphard's back was turned right now. There were a lot of things that she would rather do than ask Alphard that question to her face. A lot of things.

She didn't really need to ask, though.

"Maria," she said, agitated, "for the last time, you _can't_ come. We've - "

"Please!" Maria begged. "I only want to take photographs! I'm not going to do anything to Canaan!"

Alphard's hands clenched into fists, squeezing until the knuckles turned white. Canaan could see her shaking. Maria, did you _have_ to say that?

She ran to Alphard and slipped her arm around hers. The older woman made no effort to respond in kind.

"Alphard," she whispered, "let's just take her with us. She's really not going to do anything except take pic- "

"No," the Snakes terrorist said without emotion.

"But she's my best friend and she doesn't mean any - "

"_No._"

Canaan sighed and squeezed her arm tighter. "Alphard. You can survive one day with Maria in the same room. I won't ever leave your side, I promise." She hesitated, suddenly afraid that she might have overstepped boundaries. "Alphard? Just trust me. If things start getting out of hand, then I'll talk to her and - "

"You will not," Alphard said in a low voice full of emotion. "You will not talk to her. You will go near her. _She,_" and she almost lifted a shaking finger to point at Maria behind them, "is not setting foot in the same helicopter as me."

Maria was still calling out to them. "Canaan! Can I come in the helicopter now? It'll be a day out for all three of us!"

"Please tell her to shut up," Alphard growled. "If she think she's going to come with us...and talk like that the whole way..."

"She won't. She won't," the synesthete said quickly. "But she's still my best friend. She doesn't mean any harm." Think, she thought. You can do this without hurting both their feelings at once. "How about this," she suggested. "You let her come with us, but on your rules, and your conditions alone. Then it's on your own turf - "

"Canaan, I don't want her coming near you or me at _all._" Alphard relaxed into her slightly, hugging her body against her arm. "But she's your friend. If you want her to come..." She left the sentence hanging.

Do I want Maria to come with us? Canaan thought. Maybe I do. It would be interesting. The only reason I _don't_ want her to come is because of how Alphard reacts towards her...

"If you knew Maria," she said, "then you'd realise that she really doesn't have any feelings towards me." Please understand, she thought. "You could talk to her and find that out about her. And then you wouldn't have to be jealous everytime I mentioned her."

Alphard looked like she wanted to throw up. "_Talk_ to her?" she hissed. "Talk to that...blonde..._her?_"

Canaan shrugged. Maybe that was pushing it. "All right, maybe not talk _yet_," she amended. "You can nod at her appreciatively or something. Or just nod." She sighed. "I don't want to upset her, Alphard."

The leader of the Snakes swore under her breath. "Fine," she growled eventually. "Your call. I don't understand why you have to do this. I don't have friends. But I'll let her on board." She stroked Canaan's hair with interest. "But I'll tell you this: there are going to be rules. Very, very strict rules. And she had better obey them or there is going to be hell."


	25. Chapter 25

**(I'm hoping it hasn't gotten too OOC right now D: there's ooc, and there's oocooc (OOC of OOC) where it goes off the sudden OC that the characters were OOC in the first place...anyway, here we go :p)**

* * *

A tight room full of three females on edge contains a lot of pent-up energy. Canaan could feel it, mainly because she was the sole reason for it. With the door closed, the noise of the helicopter was kept to a minimum and the three of them stared at each other in silence. Or rather, Alphard and Maria did.

Canaan quickly sidled to the middle, but not too close to Maria. Alphard's rules had been very precise about who she was in proximity with. Talk about being controlling.

"Are you going to try talking to her?" she hissed in Alphard's ear.

"No," the Snakes terrorist snapped back.

"If you did, you might see that she's not so bad and that she doesn't regard me in that way at all."

"I'm not going to talk to _her,_ Canaan." Alphard's eyes blazed. "I have two goals in mind for today. One is to never let you out of my sight, and the other is to put that blonde bitch into a coffin."

The synesthete stared up at her, reaching up to brush her hair out of her face, but then she wasn't sure if Alphard would like that in the same room as Maria. Maybe she would be more self-conscious. Canaan refused to give into her; if they couldn't get through this...

"You haven't even tried," she argued. "Just give it a try."

"I'm trying right now. I'm trying to use all of my willpower to not shoot her dead right now because the sight of her drives me sick to my stomach." Alphard was staring intently at a metal plate of the helicopter several inches above Maria's head. "And if you keep talking about her - "

Canaan couldn't stand having her like this. It reminded her a little of herself in small ways, made her over-analyse her own personality. "You don't have to talk about anything big. Just about anything. If you're not going to talk to her then I'll just have to force you to."

"Force me, then," Alphard muttered. "Because I'm not talking."

_Fine,_ the synesthete thought hotly. _If that's what it takes._

She returned to her seat halfway between them, the link between the two girls and the reason that they were both here. The reason for their happiness, although in two entirely different ways.

"So," she said lightly, looking at both of them in a coaxing fashion. "This is all nice. Just the three of us."

Maria looked like she wanted to say something for a moment, but Alphard was staring at the opposite wall with such a furious intensity that she quickly closed her mouth again. Canaan tried to re-evaluate her strategy. She had known it was going to be difficult, but she hadn't thought it was going to be _this_ difficult.

Find something they have in common, she thought quickly. No, wait. It has to be something that they both like a lot. Alphard, in particular. She's not likely to want to talk about something that just Maria is into. What does Alphard like...?

"Maria, tell Alphard about all the bombs you like," she said roughly.

Her friend looked at her in complete and utter bewilderment. Canaan cursed under her breath. It had sounded good in her head, but not so much when you said it out loud. The helicopter journey had never seemed so long before.

"Alphard," she said in exasperation, "you can tell us about bombs, right? Maria, do you want to hear about bombs?"

"Not really," the photographer said, still looking lost and confused by the sudden change of topic.

Canaan shook her head in frustration. "Alphard, what do you want to talk about?"

The leader of the Snakes stared out the window very deliberately and ignored her. She hadn't been joking: she really wasn't going to talk.

"Leave her alone, Canaan," Maria said softly. "I know! We could all talk about what Canaan's wild night out was like last night."

Alphard's face perked up at that, and she turned away from the window.

"Wait what?" cried Canaan, not prepared for this. This wasn't supposed to happen. "No, we really shouldn't talk about tha- "

"I don't mind talking about that," Alphard said quietly with an almost-smile, pulling herself back into her seat. She still wasn't looking straight at Maria, but nor was she looking away.

"That's wonderful," said Maria excitedly. "Canaan didn't want me to know for some reason. So tell me about how drunk she was when you got her out the restaurant."

"Singing and dancing all the way," the leader of the Snakes said confidently, her face shining at the memory. "She was so far gone that I didn't think she could even stand, but when we got to the strip club - "

"Hold it!" Canaan said loudly. "We are not talking about this! You can talk about _anything_ except this!"

Alphard didn't look up. "I still have those photos of you semi-naked on my bed, Canaan, if you ever want to talk about anything else."

"W-wh..." The silver-haired girl spluttered as Maria stared at her in astonishment. "Y-you didn't tell me about that!"

"I said you offered yourself to me. And stripped. So of course you'd be naked." Alphard smiled behind her hand, pushing the synesthete playfully by her shoulder. She looked right at Maria for the first time. "Want to see them?"

"Me?" Maria flushed a little. "I can see them?"

Canaan drew herself up so suddenly that she almost banged her head on the roof. "Right. You two can stop this now," she babbled. "Really. I was drunk. It's great that you two are on talking terms now but if anyone's going to see the pictures then it's going to be m- "

"I'll send them to your phone, Maria," Alphard said, ignoring Canaan next to her completely. "I'm sure you'd enjoy them."

"Noooo!" Canaan leaped at Alphard's jacket desperately, lunging at her phone. "Give them to me! You can't let her have them!" Why are you _doing_ this, Alphard? she thought. You can't be serious about this. No, you _can't_ be. And why...does Maria not mind seeing me...naked? Oh god no.

The older woman made no move to stop her pulling at her jacket and trying to get at its unseen contents, seemingly amused and enjoying the spectacle. She watched Canaan for several moments as the synesthete sifted through the pockets frantically.

"You know I was only joking, right?" she said casually.

Canaan froze with Alphard's jacket stuck halfway up her neck. _"What?"_ she demanded.

"I'm only playing with you, Canaan," Alphard smirked. "It's what I do. There aren't really any pictures." She tugged the jacket back from her and snuggled back into it, satisfied.

"B-but..." The synesthete wanted to clutch her and wail at her but couldn't do either because Maria was in the room. She struggled to compose herself. How _dare_ she do that to me? "Y-you...you didn't take any pictures or - "

Alphard snorted. "You really are naïve. Of course I took pictures. They're just not on me right now. But I was joking when I said that I'd actually _share_ them with anyone else."

"Aw," said Maria, disappointed.

Canaan flared up and whirled around to her friend. "Why did _you_ want to see me naked?" she demanded.

Maria shrugged as if all of it was perfectly normal for her. "Because me and Alphard would have something in common?" she guessed.

"We already do have something in common," Alphard said mutely, inspecting her nails intently. "We both like driving Canaan up the wall."

That's not exactly what I wanted you to say, Canaan thought. But it'll do. Maybe it's better not saying it, in case it sparks something else off again. What they have in common is that they both love me. So the one thing they wouldn't mind talking about would be...me. Which happens to be the one thing that they also _couldn't_ talk about.

"Can we talk about something else?" she pleaded. "The weather? Guns? Bombs? Terrorist attempts? _Anything_ apart from last night?"

There was silence in the tiny room for several seconds. Then Maria said cheerily, "Alphard, Canaan never explained what she was doing in the strip club - "

"I said _apart_ from last night!"

"Sure," Alphard said calmly. "She stole the entire show last night. She was around the pole more times than I've been up this helicopter and collecting more dollar bills than - "

"_Alphard!_" Canaan moaned, at her wit's end. "Stop making all of this up! I wasn't even conscious and I _know_ that didn't happen!"

"Really? Maybe it did," Alphard replied, arching an eyebrow tauntingly. "Maybe I neglected to mention it. Maybe I suddenly remembered it past all the drinks and - "

"Canaan," Maria said, turning to her friend with tears in her eyes, "you've grown up so fast. I'm so proud of you."

"That didn't happen and I'm older than you are!" Canaan insisted. She yanked on Alphard's arm. "Alphard, please...this is so embarrassing."

The Snakes terrorist shrugged matter-of-factly. "You wanted to talk about something."

"Talk about bombs!"

"I don't want to talk about bombs. Bombs are boring when compared to you." The older woman smirked. "Especially the you from last night. Let's see, what else do I suddenly remember? Oh yes, trashing my house. And since we'll be landing soon, you'll soon see the effects of your handiwork."

Canaan groaned. She was not looking forward to this. "Are you just doing all this to teach me a lesson?" she complained.

"Absolutely," Alphard replied, stroking her silver-white hair affectionately. "I can't remember what it was for again though. It could have been anything." She nuzzled her head against Canaan's, no longer caring for Maria's reaction, and it was then that Canaan knew she was comfortable with talking to Maria at long last. "In any case, it is still important that I take you around all the places that you went last night. Maybe some of the places will jog your memory."

"I don't think they will," Canaan said in despair. "Drunkenness induced by synesthesia is very different from being drunk normally. I'll still feel like I'm wandering around inside someone else's head."

Maria smiled. "It doesn't matter, Canaan. You know what happened now, after all." She clapped her hands happily. "And I'll get to take lots of photographs everywhere we go!" She laid her hand on Canaan's arm for a second.

In an instant, the aggressiveness in Alphard's face was back, and her arms had tightened around Canaan tightly until the synesthete felt like she was being choked. She squirmed for a moment, but the terrorist wasn't going to let her go.

"What did I say about touching?" Alphard said dangerously.

Maria quickly backed away from the two of them. "I'm sorry!" she said quickly. "I, I didn't mean to..."

Canaan held her breath, fearful that everything she'd worked hard for in the last fifteen minutes would break down in an instant. Her best friend and her lover at odds again.

Instead, Alphard released her and relaxed, although her face was troubled. "Then don't you forget it," she said sharply, her arms sagging around Canaan's waist. "Even if she's your friend, Canaan's still my property. No one else touches her, and I mean _nobody._"

Canaan almost choked upon hearing this. "I'm sorry?" she spluttered. "Your...your "property"? I'm not something you just _own_ - "

"Really? You are now, so start getting used to it." Alphard flashed her a particularly evil grin. "We're about to land now." She pushed Canaan towards the main exit of the helicopter. "After you, Canaan."

* * *

**(but now after re-reading it I'm thinking that Alphard isn't friends with Maria or anything, she just did this to piss Canaan off :3 so who knows?)**


	26. Chapter 26

**(And with this chapter I've made over 50k words!...which would pass Nanowrimo! That is, if I hadn't started it 9 chapters before Nanowrimo began. Which means I have to write 9 more chapters until I finish Nanowrimo. I think.)**

* * *

The helicopter drifted close to land, and Canaan watched through the window quietly as the familiar sight of Snake headquarters came into view. It was different viewing it from high up like this. From here, it looked more like a small military base. Squadrons waited at attention in orderly lines at the perimeter of the main building, and the landing field itself was a helipad situated near the roof the building itself.

Canaan squinted down at the helipad. There was something strange about it. There seemed to be a large amount of people clustered all across the giant H, blocking their path. Maybe they were going to be landing somewhere else.

"Alphard-sama," Cummings said tightly from the pilot helm, "we may have a problem."

"Problem?" Alphard replied tensely. "What is it?"

"There seem to be a crowd of people running about on the helipad. They are preventing us from landing."

"I can see them," the synesthete said slowly, watching the scene below them as the helicopter dipped down another metre to see what was going on.

She switched on her synesthesia, bringing the colours on the roof into sharp focus. The people on the landing spot were all soldiers and marines of Snake. They were running around from side of the roof to another. No, wait. Some of them looked like innocent civilians. In fact, most of them were.

There was a net of some kind stretching across the middle of the helipad. It hadn't been there before. The people running around were throwing some kind of object across the net and...

"Who are these people?" Alphard said sharply, pushing forward to the window brusquely to look at the scene. "What do they think they are doing, barring my way like this?"

"Um..." Canaan hesitated, not quite sure of what she was saying. "I think they're playing volleyball on your roof."

The Snakes terrorist stared at her incredulously. "They're _what?_"

"Volleyball. They're playing it. On the helipad." Canaan tried to focus, to bring some of the faces on the roof into focus. She didn't recognise any of them, but it seemed to be the Snake marines versus what she assumed were Borners. "I think the Borners are winning," she said brightly.

Alphard looked like she wanted to slap her. "I don't care which side is winning. They're in the way." She signalled to the pilot. "Cummings, ignore them and land on them. They should know better than to challenge my authority."

"Understood, Alphard-sama."

Canaan blinked suddenly as one of the faces on the helipad came into focus. Her synesthesia recognised it clearly. One of the Borners was keeping score, leaping up and down as if she was on sugar everytime someone scored a point. It was difficult to tell which side she was on. But Canaan recognised the pig-tails and cheeky grin immediately.

"Wait! Stop!" she said. "That's _Yun-Yun_ down there!"

Maria started in surprise. "Yun-Yun?" the photographer repeated.

"She's refereeing the match. Alphard, you can't just land and flatten them all!" The silver-haired girl tried to get the older woman's attention, but Alphard's face was completely impassive and rigid. "Just bring me down there and I'll talk to Yun-Yun from here. I'm sure I can persuade her to move everyone out of the way."

Alphard didn't look at her. "I do not doubt," she breathed. "Very well. You can tell your friend down there to move the idiots off the roof. But be quick about it, before I decide to change my mind."

Nervously, Canaan slid the main door open as she waited for Cummings to lower the helicopter down far enough. She knew Alphard wasn't joking about changing her mind, so she couldn't waste too much time in doing this. Quickly, she brought the megaphone to her lips as they drew level.

"Yun-Yun!" she yelled through the megaphone.

Caught up in watching the game and waving pom-pom balls and cheerleading at the same time, the Borner didn't hear them. Canaan tried again.

"YUN-YUN!" she bellowed through the megaphone. Maria covered her ears as the sound of Canaan's voice deafened everyone within hearing distance.

Yun-Yun looked up for a second, then saw Canaan and Maria inside the helicopter, and waved at them cheerily. "Hi, Canaan!" she shouted back. "We're playing volleyball! Want to join in?"

"Join in?" the synesthete said, her heart warmed. "I'd – I'd love to! Would - " She felt Alphard's impatient presence at her back and hastily changed her tune. "Yun-Yun, you can't play volleyball here! Alphard can't land the helicopter!"

"Why not?" said the Borner innocently.

"Because you're all blocking the way! You'll have to stop the game and play it some other time!"

The ball zoomed past across the net and a resounding cheer went up from the Snake marines that were playing. They high-fived each other and Yun-Yun awarded them another point.

"But we can't stop now," Yun-Yun said, turning back to her. "We're in the middle of this."

"You're _blocking_ the helipad."

"There are other helipads," the Borner said sullenly. "She can use one of those."

Alphard dug her nails into Canaan's shoulder painfully. "If she thinks she can tell me what to do..." she said threateningly.

Fearfully, Canaan tried to move things forward quickly. "We have to land on this one," she called down through the megaphone to Yun-Yun. "It's _very _important. You'll have to postpone the volleyball tournament."

"But it's the quarter-finals," Yun-Yun pouted. "It took such a long time to set it up!"

Maria grabbed the megaphone from Canaan quickly. "Yun-Yun," she piped into it, "was this all your idea?"

"Yes!" the Borner yelled. Canaan groaned on hearing this. "We started out on the ground field, but then we had to move because the tanks tried to run us over. And then we moved it to the laboratory around the back, but then we accidentally set a few bombs off and had to move out before everything exploded. And now we moved up here and - "

"Is she going to get out of the way or not?" Alphard hissed angrily.

Canaan grabbed the megaphone back again. "You have to move," she said hurriedly. "I'm sorry. You can postpone it for a little while, right?"

Yun-Yun still looked uncertain. "Well, we've almost finished, but..." There was suddenly a rampant cheer from the Borner side of the match as they scored another point. She quickly changed their score and turned back to address them again. "I guess we could move for just five min- "

Alphard wrenched the megaphone back from her and tossed it into the back seat. "I've heard enough!" she said. "We've wasted enough time here. Cummings, take us down!"

"At once, Alphard-sama."

"Wait!" Canaan said in alarm. "You can't just - "

The helicopter took a dive and descended towards the volleyball court blocking the helipad. Yun-Yun shrieked and yelled a warning to both sides as it became apparent that Alphard wasn't going to stop this time. The players ran for cover, fleeing away from the giant helicopter that descended upon the match like a mammoth obelisk that blotted out the sun for a second, and fled in all directions, diving down the stairs back into the building.

There was a large _crack_ as the helicopter landed perfectly in the middle of the helipad. And then there was silence.

Maria raised her hand. "What was that noise just now?" she plucked up the courage to say.

"That," Alphard declared, "was the sound of my arrival."

Canaan chanced a look outside, sliding open the door of the helicopter. She gingerly stepped out onto the roof of Snake headquarters, and quickly sidestepped the remains of the twisted wire mesh that was strewn outside before them. It wasn't completely broken, but it was bent badly in several places from their landing.

"I think it was the sound of us landing on the volleyball net," she said meekly.

Alphard came outside with her and kicked at the remains of the net with contempt. "They should have gotten out of the way quicker," she said loftily.

"I can't believe you squashed the net," said Maria, looking aghast.

Canaan stepped over to the side and picked up a very, very flat piece of material that had been caught under the wire mesh. "She squashed the ball, too," she said sadly.

Alphard was showing no sympathy for any of this. "They deserved it," she said flatly.

"Don't worry, Canaan," Maria mourned. "I'll make sure they'll go to a good home. To a better owner. One who loves volleyball."

"Oh, stop whining," Alphard scoffed. "They'll just get recycled again anyway. And then the raw materials will be combined in my laboratories to create explosives with which to kill people."

Canaan shook her head in wonder. "Did you just make a link between volleyball and terrorism?"

"I can do that if I want. Besides, they used _my _volleyball net." The leader of the Snakes eyed the mesh with indignation. "Borners aren't supposed to have access to my private volleyball nets."

The silver-haired girl looked up at her in admiration. "You play volleyball?" she said curiously. "You never told me."

Alphard shrugged. "I'll play it with you sometime. You won't win, but at least you'll work up a sweat."

"Who says I won't win?" Canaan said defiantly. "Just because I'm not as tall as you doesn't mean - "

The older woman stared her down with the familiar streak of teasing in her eyes. "Care to put that to the test?" she said calmly. "Because you won't win."

The synesthete flushed angrily. "If you think you can just go around pretending you're better than me at every- "

"Well, I usually am," Alphard said with a smirk. "All of those little things you like."

Maria stepped in between the two of them before they could argue any further. "Are we going to go downstairs?" she said, looking exhausted by the whole affair. "Or are you two going to argue about pointless things all day?"

Alphard shrugged and smiled. "I don't mind arguing with Canaan all day. She never wins arguments anyway."

"Will you shut _up?_" Canaan yelled.

Maria rolled her eyes. Was Canaan always like this around Alphard? "Let's just go," she suggested, pushing herself forward towards the stairs leading down into the core of Snake headquarters.


	27. Chapter 27

**(I'm finding it harder each day to keep up with the word count, but I'm just managing it each time. Plan for the chapter changed a bit this time, not that anyone'll notice :3)**

* * *

As they descended the stairs and entered the main lift of Snake headquarters, Canaan felt a faint chill in the air. She couldn't tell where it was coming from, but she hadn't noticed it until now. The further they walked, the stronger it got. An uneasy notion in the back of her head suggested it might have something to do with one of the many unremembered events of last night.

They travelled down floor after floor for several minutes without saying anything, and it felt to the synesthete that they must be deep underground by now. She had seen no sign of Yun-Yun since the volleyball incident. In the circumstances, that was probably better right now.

The lift came to a stop, and Alphard stepped out after them.

"We're now in my house," the Snakes terrorist announced, "which means that house rules now apply."

Canaan realised what the chill was. It was Alphard's manner towards Maria completely. The jealousy was back, along with the icy threatening looks towards her.

"And so," Alphard continued, "I have no problem with speaking my mind." She pointed at Maria with a bluntness that appalled the other two. "Out," she said flatly.

The blonde photographer looked confused. "I don't - " she began.

"Out!" Alphard said commandingly with steel in her tone. "Out of my house. I don't want you here."

"W-wait just a second," Canaan said quickly. Something must be wrong, she thought. The two of them were getting along fine until we came inside. And now Alphard's suddenly back to hating her again. "Alphard, what's wrong?"

"Wrong?" The leader of the Snakes regarded her critically. "She is wrong. Let me remind you of Alphard's House Rule Number One: no other females permitted within five metres of Canaan." She waved her hand at Maria whilst the girl backed away. "Out!"

"Alphard!" Canaan protested, running in between the two girls, positioned in a defensive stance in front of Maria protectively. "You can't just tell Maria to leave like that!"

Alphard gave her an appraising look. "And why not?" she enquired. "Is there any other way that I could tell her to leave? Gunfire, perhaps? Releasing a swarm of bees in her direction?"

"No, not bees!" Maria wailed in the corner, backed up against the door.

Canaan tried to restrain the older woman. "Why are you doing this?" she said with pain in her voice. "You were both getting alone fine just five minutes ago!"

"That is because we were talking about you." Alphard pushed her backwards by her chin, and the synesthete tripped over backwards with a mumbled curse. "Now we are talking about removing all other females from the room."

The silver-haired girl stumbled back to her feet and brushed herself off angrily. "I don't believe you!" she cried. "I thought you weren't jealous of her anymore!"

"Really? Well, I am." Alphard tugged at Canaan's hair tightly, his hands clenching together in a passionate grip. "Maybe not as much as I used to be, but it's still there. And if she's just here to take pictures, she really doesn't need to be in my house for any longer than necessary, does she?"

"Um..." Maria ventured hesitantly. "I suppose I could just leave and - "

"No! Don't move," Canaan snapped. "No one's leaving. Alphard, this isn't how you treat people! If you wanted Maria to leave, there's no need to order her out and - "

"It sounds like you have been spending too much time with _society,_" the Snakes terrorist purred dangerously. "People don't care about that kind of thing. And right now, neither do I. I don't waste words trying to be pathetically _polite. _So. Out. Out!" she shouted towards Maria again.

"What is your problem?" the synesthete yelled at her. "I thought you were taking me to look at all the places last night to try and jog my memory! What are the two of us going to do once you've kicked Maria out?"

Alphard jerked her head in the direction of the other room in a very suggestive manner. Canaan looked confused for a moment, then groaned.

"This is going to be very private, isn't it?" she said, her face falling.

"Very," Alphard confirmed.

Maria cleared her throat from the doorway. "Um..." she said, trying to piece all this together. "You're not kicking me out because I'm another female in the same room, but because the two of you need a moment?"

"I think so," Canaan said uncertainly, glaring at Alphard. The Snakes terrorist had taken to once again inspecting her fingernails. "Alphard?"

"Yes?" The older woman still wasn't looking at her in the eye.

"Why didn't you just _say_ so, you idiot?" The synesthete felt like giving up, but a large part of her was intensely relieved nonetheless. "This isn't about jealousy at all. All you had to do was _say_ you wanted to be with me alone for five minutes and ask Maria to wait here or something. You didn't need to start another fight and kick her out of the house."

Alphard turned her back on her quickly, examining her nails very closely indeed and muttering something under her breath.

"So...am I being kicked out or not?" Maria asked.

Alphard ignored her and mouthed something desperately at Canaan, jerking her head in the direction of the next room. Canaan sighed and shook her head at Maria, before following the older woman away into the living room. Alphard really was acting strangely. _Maybe it's because she isn't used to actually caring about more than one person before? Maybe she's used to pushing everyone away from her. It was difficult enough between the two of us for a while. She doesn't like people, so she doesn't care about manners or asking favours from everyone. She just acts. It's what she's used to._

"I'm sorry," Alphard said quietly, still with her back to her as they stood in the living room under the chandeliers. "I'm - "

"I get it," Canaan interrupted. "It's your natural instinct towards me."

"Yeah. I'm possessive and instinctive and selfish whenever you're involved." Alphard sighed and slid her arm around the silver-haired girl with a half-shrug of her broad shoulders, tossing her hair to one side. "She won't do...anything?"

Canaan returned the gesture, rubbing her cheek against the older woman's shoulder. "Of course not," she replied simply.

The leader of the Snakes shook her head sadly. "I'll always be jealous of her in some way no matter what. But let's forget that for now. I'm not wasting any more time arguing about this." She motioned towards the fireplace in the corner. "Let's start seeing what you did last night. See that?"

The synesthete stared at where she was pointing, startled. It was hard to see from this angle unless you looked closely, but now she could see that it was riddled with bullet holes in all kind of places. She estimated the trajectory that the bullets must have taken, and followed them back to the wall opposite. It, too, was punctured through with bullet holes, some right through the wallpaper.

She sagged in Alphard's embrace. "That was me, wasn't it?" she said glumly.

"It's no big deal. I put up with far worse, especially considering my position in Snake. My sister's still throwing a fit over what you did to her room, so you don't really want to go upstairs anytime soon." Alphard sighed. "We're lucky that she isn't in right now. Canaan, she keeps causing problems with us..."

"And you probably want me to kill her," the synesthete replied.

"Of course. She's getting in the way far too often." Alphard brought her lips up and placed a tender kiss on Canaan's forehead. "Why are you so reluctant to get rid of her? She's hurt you and your friends far more than I ever have."

The silver-haired girl felt her lips brush against her lover's neck. "I just think she wouldn't be like that if you gave her a little..." She didn't want to say "love". "...appreciation," she substituted. "She's devoted to you. Like you are to me."

Alphard laughed. "I'm not _devoted_ to you. You're the one who keeps running after me all the time."

"You're the stalker," the synesthete shot back good-naturedly.

"I'm just a little obsessive over who's allowed to touch you. There's a difference." Swiftly, the Snakes terrorist pushed her onto the sofa, burying her head in the soft cushions, her laughter welling up in Canaan's ears. "You haven't got me wrapped round your little finger. It's me who's got _you._"

Canaan tried to get to her feet, but felt the wind forced out of her lungs as she felt a pair of knees pin her harder down.

"Damn it," she gasped, "not this again..."

"It doesn't take much to turn you on, does it, Canaan?" Alphard smirked and pulled the girl's head back into her lap. "I've been gentle with you so far. When I'm in the right mood, I'll give it to you rough. Just how you like it."

Her tone sent chills up the synesthete's spine. She fought to control her breathing. "You call this _gentle?" _she said disbelievingly.

"No, Canaan, I call this barely anything at all. Last night with you moaning and gasping against me by the door?" The Snakes terrorist moved her fingers against the synesthete's lips slowly, as if watching for the right reaction. "That was pretty gentle by my standards."

Canaan rolled over in her lap, away from her, biting her lip as she tried to imagine what it could possibly be like for Alphard to get serious with her. The thought made her shiver with excitement.

"What if I'm not ready for this?" she said nervously.

The leader of the Snakes brushed her hands delicately across Canaan's breasts and waistline, almost absent-mindedly. The synesthete reacted as if she'd been given an electric shock, yelping and trying to get up again, but Alphard shoved her back down again.

"You don't fool me," Alphard said idly. "I can feel it. You've been needing it, needing someone to do it to you rough for a long time."

"Then why aren't you doing it to me now?!" Canaan demanded, looking up at her desperately.

The Snakes terrorist smirked and got to her feet, pushing her off her legs completely. She shrugged. "Probably because I like driving you crazy. Who knows?"

She walked away from her back into the hallway where Maria was waiting, leaving Canaan seething with fury by the sofa. Slowly, the synesthete picked herself up. _One of these days..._she swore. _Just you wait. You can't just leave me hanging like that._

She followed Alphard towards the door, watched the sweep of her hair, the movement of her hips, how her hands responded and uncurled towards Canaan as she approached her. She watched her and followed her through into the outside world, trying to think. Fantasising, imagining. Whatever she did now, she had to do it soon.

* * *

**(They were actually supposed to wander the city with Maria in this chapter but never mind :p)**


	28. Chapter 28

**(I think me and Alphard have something in common. We both love screwing around with Canaan. I'M SORRY CANAAN. D:)**

* * *

They spent the next few hours or so in the heart of the city, with Alphard taking them along the route that (she claimed) an alcohol-induced Canaan had taken last night. Maria skipped merrily ahead of them, snapping photos everytime something caught her attention, accompanied by a cry of "sugoi". Alphard started to cast annoyed looks at the blonde photographer after some time, and Canaan could tell why. Alphard didn't want to spend the day with Maria and Canaan, regardless of whether or not she was on speaking terms with Maria. Alphard just wanted to spend the day with Canaan.

The synesthete could almost feel Alphard repressing the urge to tell Maria to leave them alone every five minutes or so. She didn't have to repress it, but she probably didn't want a repeat of the scene back at the house. My fault again, Canaan thought. But still...

"Do you remember any of this?" the Snakes terrorist said, as they reached the end of the road and began to turn back again.

"Not a thing."

Alphard inclined her head to one side. "Are you sure about that? You don't remember the bouncer at the door of the club throwing you out in a physical manner? You don't remember climbing the lamp post, jumping over a hobo and reciting a ballad you wrote?"

"_No,_ Alphard, I don't," said Canaan, feeling rather fed-up. She wished everyone would stop going on about it. She just wanted it to end. "Ballad?" she said curiously. "What was it about?"

"I think you called it "Ballad of the Borners"," Alphard said. "It was very interesting. Very, very long."

The silver-haired girl cast her eyes away from the scene around her. She didn't recognise a thing. "Forget it," she said flatly. "My synesthesia indirectly caused my incapacitation, not the alcohol itself. I wasn't going to remember anything if I wasn't even awake. Let's just stop this, Alphard. I've already got bigger problems."

The leader of the Snakes nodded slightly. "Such as where you're going to stay tonight?"

Maria walked unconcernedly across their path and snapped up a photo of a group of birds on a random chimney. She waved at them as the other two girls wordlessly walked around her.

"You're going to say I can stay with you," Canaan said, not looking at her.

"Is that what you want me to say?"

"No." She couldn't quell the rising guilt fast enough. How much had Alphard given her, on top of saving her life as well? I haven't done anything for you at all, she wanted to say to her. If there's anything you ever wanted me to do, I'd do it. It just isn't fair. But she didn't know how to say that to Alphard in the right kind of words. And she didn't know if Alphard would understand how she felt.

The older woman smiled, seeming calm. "Then what do you want me to say?"

"I don't know," Canaan answered uneasily. What _did_ she want Alphard to do? Leave her on the streets to fend for herself? It was the kind of lifestyle Canaan had been used to in her early years, when she was still with Siam, but...was it something she preferred?

If anyone had asked her whether she'd prefer to stay at Alphard's house or to be on the streets without a place to stay then her answer would have been immediate. But it wasn't about what she wanted. Alphard can given her plenty of things she wanted. It had to work both ways.

Alphard was looking at her strangely, sensing her inner turmoil. She opened her mouth to ask what was wrong, but Canaan had already anticipated it. _Tell her why you feel like this. Make her understand. Even if you don't think it's going to change anything in the end._

"I just don't want to be any trouble," she said lamely.

The leader of the Snakes sighed. "Trouble? Is that what you're worried about?" she asked, brushing her hair aside. "My girlfriend is actually telling me that she thinks she'll be too much _trouble_ staying over for a little while?" She smirked ruefully. "I thought you were going to say it was so much worse than that."

"Alphard," Canaan said seriously, "I blew up my own flat. I won't have the money to rent another place for a while." At least, not until Natsume paid her..._Natsume. _The contract she'd given her. Canaan had almost forgotten about that. Was she still going to do it? She pushed it out of her mind by now. "So if I am staying at your place, it's not going to be a "little while". It's going to be long-term."

Alphard shrugged. "I don't see the problem."

"If I start staying at your house, I might be there for months! I don't know how long it will be until I get enough income!"

"Yes, you said that." The Snakes terrorist yawned openly. "And I'm saying this again too: I don't see the problem." She tried to analyse the synesthete's agonised expression. "You're worried about money?"

"I should at least pay you for my stay," Canaan pleaded. "After all you've done for me."

Alphard scratched the back of the silver-haired girl's neck affectionately. "I'm just going to assume you've never had to stay over at someone's house in your life before. You actually think that having you stay in my house of many rooms is going to affect my finances." Her face softened. "Canaan, I own a corporation. I've got several houses all under my name all over China and Japan alone. Money isn't an issue for me. If you feel so guilty about staying in an empty room in my house, I'll _give_ you one of my other houses. It's no big deal."

"You can't give me a house for free!" the synesthete protested. This was getting worse.

"It's my house. Or yours, if you so desire." Alphard reached out and hugged her softly. "Just ask and I'll give it to you. There's so much that I have, but it's worthless if I can't share it." She smiled faintly. "And I would give it all to you, Canaan."

_No, This isn't what I want._ "You're not serious," Canaan said breathlessly, speaking quickly to cover up what she felt inside. "If I asked you to give me all of Snake Corporation and replace you as the leader, would you do that?"

Alphard looked surprised. "No," she said in a disgusted manner. "You'd muck it all up in no time."

"Me?"

"Yes, you wouldn't know the first thing to do in threatening governments and holding entire countries to ransom." The Snakes terrorist tossed her head in a bit of an arrogant fashion. "It'd be like giving my leadership to Yun-Yun."

"All right, all right." Canaan regretted even mentioning Snake. Alphard probably held her own company in quite high regard in comparison. "But I'm not comfortable with this at all. Not any of it."

"Too bad, then." Alphard looked off into the distance uncaringly. "I had everything in the world except you. And now I have you as well. So now I've got everything, absolutely everything - "

"Except the world," Canaan said thoughtfully.

The Snakes terrorist stopped in mid-sentence irritably. "What?" she said, looking confused.

"You don't have the world at your feet," the synesthete said helpfully. "Because if you're terrorists trying to take over the world, then you'll need the world as well as - "

"Shut up. I'm speaking in general here." Alphard was annoyed at having her train of thought broken. "_Anyway._ I now have everything I could ever want. And if I want you to have it too, then you really should take it. It's not something you come across every day." They stopped in the middle of the street, and Alphard gazed into her eyes intensely. "I can give you anything you want, Canaan. Think about it. I have money, and I have power. And looks," she added with a smirk. "All you have to do is ask for it."

Canaan blinked in confusion. "So you're like a genie?" she hazarded.

"I'm sorry?"

"Like an all-powerful sexy genie." Canaan struck a pose and declared in a deep voice, " Your wish is my command, O Master." "

"Canaan," Alphard said quietly, "this isn't Aladdin."

"Sorry," the synesthete said awkwardly. "I was just watching the film with Maria last week so it got into my head and - " She quickly tried to go back to the current subject. "So you're trying to tempt me with money and power."

"Yep."

"Just like an evil villain does when he's trying to trick someone into joining his cause?"

"Evil?" Alphard repeated innocently. "_Me?"_

"It's just really suspicious," Canaan commented. "It's as if, by taking you up on your offer, I'm selling my soul."

"I may already have your soul," the leader of the Snakes said absent-mindedly. "It's inside those photos of you naked on my bed."

"And you are to give me those as soon as we get home so I can burn them."

Alphard laughed. "Oh, but that would spoil the fun." She stroked her cheek, pressing her fingertips against Canaan's bare skin. "But it's not that kind of thing, Canaan. You don't have to feel guilty or pressured about the things that I give to you. I'm just saying that it's all right to ask me for anything. I already have everything that I could ever want, so why not share it with me?"

Canaan sighed. "There isn't anything I want."

"How about a new house and money?"

"But you don't understand. I don't want you to _give_ me them." The silver-haired girl massaged her forehead in frustration. "I want to earn them again myself somehow. Independently. I want to do something for _you_, Alphard."

The leader of the Snakes grinned. "Oh, but you already will be. You just don't know it yet."

"What?" Canaan asked, confused.

Alphard pressed a finger to her lips and shook her head mutely.

"No. You've got to tell me," the synesthete said insistently. "Pleease."

"Well..." Alphard looked back up the path leading out of the city and back to Snake headquarters. "Regardless of your worries, you'll still end up staying at my house for a while."

"And...?"

"And," the Snakes terrorist said pleasurably, "once you're in my house, you'll be inside my control." A sadistic glimmer lit her eyes. "There'll be nothing I can't do to you anymore."

In the ensuing silence, Canaan struggled to dispel the chill at the back of her neck. She wasn't very successful. Her muscles had gone all tense and rigid around that region.

"What if I say no?" she breathed.

Alphard shrugged. "You can always say no," she said brightly. "It always helps to try saying it." She cast her eyes away from her slowly. "But that's not what your body is screaming right now."

"Alphard," Canaan said between gritted teeth, "I am _not_ staying over just you can use me for sex."

The Snakes terrorist seemed unperturbed. "Well, that's a blunt way to put it," she commented.

"I mean it," the synesthete growled.

"Sure, sure." Alphard smirked. "We'll find out how you feel later. After I show you those photos. And the copies I made of them," she added with an evil grin. "The many, many copies."


	29. Chapter 29

Dusk was falling when they stepped back into the threshold of Alphard's house once more. Canaan was still nervous from what Alphard had said to her earlier about her staying over, feeling almost as if she'd get jumped on from the instant she put her foot through the door. But nothing happened. She glanced towards Alphard for _some_ kind of sign, some kind of warning, but the older woman just busied herself with hanging her jacket on the coat rack by the wall and casually walking past her and talking about how she had so much to do right now. As if everything was normal.

That was the problem with Alphard, Canaan thought. She was just so unpredictable. If her power of synesthesia couldn't read her, an ability which could read people's thoughts from the colour that radiated from their bodies, then what could?

There was a knock on the door just then and, without thinking, Canaan went to open it.

She just did it automatically because she was closest to the door and Alphard was busy in the living room sorting out her documents from work. But perhaps she should have exercised more caution. Considering that it could have been _anyone_ at the door. One of Alphard's dangerous allies. Liang Qi.

"Hi," Maria said, beaming at her from the hallway. "I got you chocolate!"

She held up a large brown carrier bag proudly. It looked very expensive, probably not within the budget or pay-scale of a minor reporter from Japan. Very much within the pay-scale of a dangerous Snake terrorist, however. Canaan suspected Alphard had given it to Maria to get rid of her quickly.

Somehow, the synesthete had a feeling that Alphard's desire for the two of them to be alone tonight meant that Maria was not going to be very welcome inside the hallway, let alone inside the front door.

"That's nice," Canaan said diplomatically. "Did you come to return the bag? Or..."

She felt her dark-haired lover at her back before she saw her.

"Hi, Alphard," Maria said, almost as an afterthought, then returned her attention back to Canaan. "We can all eat it together. Wouldn't that be nice?"

_Uh-oh. Together? So..._

"That sounds like a good idea," Alphard said in a reasonable tone of voice. Canaan winced as her nails cut into her shoulder. "We should do that the next time you come round. Whenever that might be."

Maria smiled up at the terrorist with the barest hint of helplessness. It was a bit like waving at a very hungry tiger.

"Yes, about that," the blonde photographer said. "You know how you sent me over to the landing field where your helicopters are, and that Cummings would fly me home?"

"Yes...?" Alphard inquired.

"Well, I couldn't find it." Maria scratched her head with one hand. "Not the landing field, I mean. I found that. But I couldn't find any helicopters."

Canaan bit back a cry of pain as Alphard's nails cut into her other shoulder. She didn't like how this was going. Or maybe she did, judging by how Alphard was touching her right now. It made her head hurt just trying to work it out anymore.

"But I did find one thing," Maria added thoughtfully. "I found this little memo from your sister..."

Canaan rolled her eyes. _Not again._

"...and how she said that she'd borrowed all the helicopters for just a short while, and that she'd return them when...when..." Maria tried to recall the words specifically. "Oh yes, her words were "when that filthy whore is dead", I think, but I'm not sure who she was talking about. And then she also said that it wasn't as if she was doing this to spite you or anything, and then she added a P.S. on the end and said really emphatically that she wasn't being tsundere."

_Yandere, more like it,_ Canaan thought hopelessly.

"I am sick to death of this," Alphard hissed. Her nails had seeped down to Canaan's lower back now. "Doesn't she _ever_ leave us alone?"

"Which means," Maria finished, "that I can't get home and I'll - "

_I've got to work this out,_ Canaan thought quickly. _Before Alphard's nails kill me. _"That's not true, Maria," she said sternly. "You _can_ still get home. You can go back by ship, remember?"

"Well, I thought of that," Maria said, "so I dropped by the port, and then I found that no ships were allowed out anymore."

_Owowow. _Canaan tried twisting out of Alphard's grip to reduce the pain. She must be bleeding by now.

"And why _not?_" Alphard breathed.

"I don't know exactly," the photographer said. "But apparently a girl and a group of sailors attempted to use the port as a volleyball court. And then the net got caught up in one of the ships, and it ran aground, and then the net got twisted around and got caught up in the ship next to it, and before it - "

"All right, I get it." Alphard eyes were downcast, filled with pain. "So you can't go home. And you have no choice but to stay...stay over. With us." Her voice trembled, and she unclenched her hands away from Canaan, leaving the synesthete almost gasping with relief. "Go on. Go anywhere you like. I don't care."

Canaan massaged her shoulders and back thankfully. _She really wanted to be completely alone with me tonight, _she thought, staring after Alphard as the older woman turned tail into the back room. _Maria turning up at her doorstep ruined everything for her, robbed her of control. Had she been planning this? And no, not sex, despite what she said earlier. Just to be alone with me for a whole night._

She glared at her blonde friend nestled by the doorway. "Maria, you didn't have to do that!" she scolded.

Maria wore an expression of pure innocence. "What did I do?" she protested. "I didn't do anything wrong."

Canaan sighed. She was right. But there was no reason why having Maria staying over with them would ruin anything further. They could sleep in separate bedrooms, surely? There were ways to sort this out. And Maria was only going to be staying for one night.

She found Alphard at the far end of the living room, staring at a giant painting. It was a painting of breathtaking beauty and magnificence. It was also a painting of a giant bomb. Canaan wondered where this craze for explosive devices came from anyway.

"Don't tell me it's going to be all right," the Snakes terrorist said emotionlessly before Canaan could put her hand on her shoulder. "It isn't."

Well, there goes Plan A, the synesthete thought huffily. And I don't have a Plan B.

"You've talked to Maria now," she said. "She's not going to be like Liang Qi and sabotage all your plans."

Alphard didn't answer, but kept staring at the painting.

"You can ignore the whole time if you want to," Canaan tried. "I'll tell her you don't feel like talking. She won't mind. I just have to give her something to do. She'll probably just wander around the house all day yelling "Sugoi"."

Still no answer.

Canaan gave it one more shot. "She's not going to be in the same bedroom as us, she's not going to barge in our privacy, and it's only one night. One. Night." She almost said _And I'm not going to talk to you if you're just going to sulk for the whole evening_ but the last time she had said something like that, Alphard had almost been lost to her.

She was about to give up and turn away again when Alphard said, "You said in Shanghai that she was only going to be here for a few hours. Then it was all day. Now it's all night."

Canaan turned back again. "It won't go any further."

"You don't know that." Alphard swung herself around and gazed back at her. "I just want to be in the house alone with you, and now...I can't."

"I'll be here tomorrow, won't I?" Canaan snapped, in a harsher tone than she initially intended. "Maria won't be here. No one else will. _I'll_ be here."

Alphard put her hand to her forehead, lowering her gaze again. "Yet it doesn't feel that you always will be, Canaan."

The synesthete felt her heart tremble at the words. Alphard thought _she_ would lose _her?_ Not the other way round? If she only knew...but Canaan didn't know how to tell her she had it all wrong.

"I'm not going to go away," she said, pushing down the tremor that had risen in her throat for a moment. "I'm going to stay here like I promised. With you. I know things have been going wrong today." And the day before, and the day before that but _that was my fault. _Today's the only day that it might not have been my fault. Or maybe it was. I can't even keep track anymore. "But it's ..."

She was going to say "But it's still better than not being with you", but then she'd groaned because it had sounded so corny. She'd probably read it out of one of Minoru's novels.

Forget words, anyway. Canaan knew she wasn't always very good at them.

She cradled Alphard's neck tightly, squeezing her slender arms around her shoulders. Just like Alphard might do to her. With how it felt, she could see why Alphard enjoyed doing it.

At first Alphard didn't react at all. Then she sighed and rose up from the chair, hugging the synesthete back. "Fine," she said, giving in. "I'm tired of waiting, Canaan. I really am. But I'll wait one more night for you."

"We're in the same house," Canaan said. "There's nothing to wait for. I'm here. Maria respects our privacy. She wouldn't mind being put in a separate room if I told her the reason."

"You don't understand, Canaan," the Snakes terrorist said sadly. "It's not the same as having you all to myself. With nothing else in the world, not a single soul, not a breath of wind or..." She laughed, despite herself. "Look at me. I'm getting poetic."

"Write me a poem about me sometime. I'd love to read it." Canaan snuggled her face into her shoulder. "So, are we going to find a way to get Maria distracted for the rest of the evening, or are you going to stare at the painting of a bomb all day?"

* * *

**(Yeees, I know, back to angst in that chapter. I can't help it D:)**


	30. Chapter 30

Alphard's house took a while to get used to. Within the hour, Maria had already been lost in the many rooms and it took Canaan another half hour to find her. A mansion of this size wasn't meant for just two people, surely. Alphard had reassured her earlier that a number of people did live here – or had used to – but their rooms were constantly being converted into something else or used for other purposes. In the end, it was just her on her own, with occasionally Liang Qi coming over.

It was these words in particular which registered alarm for the synesthete.

"Occasionally?" she said. "Your sister occasionally comes over?"

They were discussing this over dinner, just the two of them. Maria was lost in the background somewhere, watching the television and yelling "sugoi" every few seconds.

"Of course," Alphard replied, chewing her food slowly. "She does have a bedroom here, and you know how she feels about me."

"And she definitely won't turn up tonight," Canaan said, just to make sure.

"Definitely," Alphard agreed. "Probably," she added.

Canaan paused with the chopsticks halfway to her mouth.

"You said _probably,_" she said accusingly. "So she might actually turn up tonight out of the blue."

"She probably won't," the Snakes terrorist said, trying to sound reassuring.

"But she might. Whilst Maria and I are still here." Canaan put down her food completely, unable to set it as her highest priority right now. "And you don't see a problem with that."

Alphard swallowed her meat down before answering. "No, because if things start getting worse, which they probably will, then you can just go ahead and kill her."

"But I don't feel comfortable with that," the synesthete protested earnestly. "I don't want to ruin tonight for you any further by shooting Liang Qi dead in your own house."

"Canaan, shooting her won't ruin tonight," Alphard said patiently. "It will make for a brighter and much less obstructed future for the two of us. And if you aren't going to kill her, then I am, because I've just about had it up to here with Maria and if my sister's going to turn up and - "

"Keep your voice down!" Canaan hissed, glancing round to see if Maria had heard Alphard talking about her. Luckily, the blonde girl was still glued to the television screen, cheering inanely. "All right," she said in a quieter voice. "If you want me to kill your sister so badly, I will, but I'm not going to do it in your house."

The dark-haired woman half-closed her eyes in exasperation. "Stop coming up with excuses not to do it. There's no reason why you can't do it in here."

"They'll be a lot of fighting and I might break something," the silver-haired girl said.

"I have money. I can afford it."

"One of us," Canaan said dramatically, "could get seriously hurt."

Alphard nodded. "Very true. Since it's obviously going to be her, then that works out just fine."

The synesthete grabbed at her last options desperately. "The blood will take forever to wash out of the carpet - "

"The carpet is already the colour of blood," Alphard cut her off. "I've had people get killed in here before."

"All right then," Canaan said, clinging to her last resort. "Maria is here too and I don't want to see her get caught in the fighting."

She knew she'd finally gotten some headway at last because Alphard didn't reply for several seconds, munching on her meal in silence. In the background, only the sound of the television and Maria's voice could be heard.

"Why are you against this so much?" the older woman said at last, her expression strained. "Killing her would be an easy task for you. She's done nothing but constantly hurt and torture and try to kill your friends again and again. And with Liang Qi out of the way our relationship wouldn't have any more barriers. We'd be free. And she's the only one in our way anymore."

Canaan tried to frame an answer to this, but to be honest she didn't really know the reason herself. Maybe because she saw similarities in the way Liang Qi looked at Alphard, and the way Alphard looked at her, Canaan. Maybe because she felt just a little sorry for her sister, despite everything she might have done to deserve it. Maybe because even Liang Qi deserved a little bit of love.

Before she could answer, there was a knock at the door.

The two girls locked eyes together at the table. Canaan gripped her seat tightly.

"Please tell me that's not who I think it is," the synesthete said icily.

Alphard shook her head. "It isn't. My sister wouldn't be coming over tonight."

"And how do you know that?"

"Because she's stolen all my helicopters," Alphard said between gritted teeth. "And unless she's suddenly flown back in one of them and - "

She stopped talking, her breath cut short as the two of them realised that what she was describing might be exactly what had happened.

"Oh nii-san!" called a woman's voice from outside the front door. "Alphard-sama!"

It was Liang Qi. No doubt about it. Canaan stood up in a flash, mind racing for what to do. Kill her, like Alphard kept telling her to do? Maybe it was all the only way. Maria still hadn't looked up from the television, obnoxious to everything that was going on. _If I could just take care of Liang Qi outside and make sure Maria wasn't involved..._

She looked at Alphard helplessly and her heart plummeted as she realised that that wasn't going to happen. Liang Qi wouldn't hesitate to use a hostage if it came to that. She had done it before. Of course, so had Alphard, but things had been different then.

"What do I do? What do I _do?_" she mouthed at Alphard.

The Snakes terrorist looked at her as if she were mad. "What do you _think,_ you idiot?! Get out there and shoot her!"

"I can't do that whilst Maria's here!"

"Alphard-sama!" Liang Qi called out sing-song from outside the door. "What's taking you so long? I've come to stay overrr..." She purred, almost scratching at the door.

_Stay over? She's staying over? Maybe it would be better to just kill her and end this once and for all. But no. I'm sticking to my guns here. If I'm not going to fight..._

"We need to hide," she decided. "Alphard! Where can Maria and I hide for the night?"

Alphard, who had been taking a step towards the door, whirled around in irritation. "_What?_" she demanded.

"Hide!" Canaan repeated. "If we can just hide - "

"You _can't_ hide! This is my sister we're talking about!" Alphard grabbed her by her shoulders and started shaking her furiously. "Just fucking kill her!"

"No!" The silver-haired girl stood her ground. "Not whilst Maria might get hurt. I'm not doing it, Alphard. And neither are you. If I'm going to fight her, I want it to be where my friends aren't put in danger."

Alphard released her, bewilderment and confusion showing on her face, but the knocking at the door continued persistently. "All right," she said grimly. "All right. So you don't want to kill her yet because of your _friend. _Fine. But you can't hide either. You're going to have to disguise yourselves."

"I..._what?_" Canaan wasn't sure she had heard right. _Disguise? _How in the world was she meant to...

"I've got to let her in," Alphard said, striding towards the door. "Get up to the top floor, the two of you. We used to use that place as a dressing room. And then come back down quickly, because I'm going to have to find a really good excuse as to why you are here. And one thing my sister isn't, is gullible." She shoved Canaan towards the stairs. "Quickly. Go!"

The synesthete protested and spluttered as she almost tripped, but then saw the front door open wide. Quickly, she grabbed Maria's hand and the two of them ran upstairs towards the next floor.

"Alphard-sama, I'm so glad to see you again!" Canaan heard Liang Qi say to her downstairs. "It's just like..." The woman paused in mid-sentence. "What was that noise I just heard upstairs?"

_Oh shit,_ Canaan thought. She and Maria were still scrambling up the stairs as fast as possible, making about as much noise as humanly possible. It didn't help that the lights were out and that they had to stumble their way through the dark.

"Nobody," Alphard was saying quickly. "Just...a few friends of mine who I invited over for a little while."

"Friends? _Friends?_" Liang Qi was already getting hysterical. "You don't have any friends. Who are they, Alphard-sama? I will burn them all and they will die."

"I'll introduce them to you later," Alphard said quickly. "Liang Qi, why don't you come and have some coffee in the - "

"Later? Later? I want you to introduce to them now. If they're good friends of your, they surely_ must _be good friends of mine. We can all be friends. I'll show your friends how I introduce myself. They shall love me."

Canaan hurried up the stairs and reached the top floor at long last, scrambling for a light. Were they in the attic? She gave up on finding a switch after five minutes and decided to just use synesthesia instead. After all, synesthesia was her eyes and ears and all of her senses.

"Canaan?" Maria said blearily, rubbing her eyes and bumping into her in the dark. "What's going on? Is Liang Qi here? Do we - "

"Sshhh!" the synesthete hushed her. "I'm trying to get through tonight without any fighting. The two of us need to disguise ourselves. Alphard said there's something here which will - "

She combed the area with her synesthesia desperately and realised that they had another problem. There were no costumes or ways to disguise themselves on this floor, as Alphard had implied. There were some ill-fitting rags or clothes, but even wearing those, Liang Qi would still recognise them in an instant...

Wait a second. The box in the corner.

Next to her, Maria fumbled around and managed to hit the light switch. Canaan quickly turned it off again, realising that Liang Qi would see the light immediately and head directly for them.

"There's...something in that box in the corner," she said eventually, crawling in the dark towards it and emptying it out. "I think it'll have to do."

"What is it?"

Canaan pulled out a long slender material out and brushed the cobwebs off it. "Put that on. We're going to need these."

Maria inspected the object in wide-eyed surprise as her eyes struggled to adapt to the darkness. "A...a _wig?_ We're going to be wearing wigs?"

"Do you have a better plan right now?"

The photographer slipped a large red wig over her head and shuddered in embarrassment. "Liang Qi is never going to be fooled by this..."

"This wasn't my idea," Canaan muttered, hoisting a wig of her own on top of her head. _Great. Just terrific. I'm stuck in Alphard's attic wearing a wig the colour of ice-cream gone bad and I'm going to have to fool her psychotic sister into thinking I'm someone else. This is going to work. Sure it is._

* * *

__**(I kind of wrote the last half of this in a hurry but I was going to put more in this chapter about Liang Qi. But that'll happen next time I guess.)**


	31. Chapter 31

"I can't tell you how glad I am to be with you tonight, dear sister," Liang Qi was enthusing at length in the living room. She was wearing an especially provocative and revealing piece of clothing that was obviously meant for Alphard's eyes only. "To be rid of such obstructions. To be alone together once more." Her lip curled upwards hatefully. "To be far away from that slutty piece of shit Canaa- "

"Liang Qi," Alphard said wearily, "we talked about this. We agreed that you would not say the C-word as long I did not say the M-word."

Canaan herself felt like the journey downstairs to the ground floor was taking forever. The wig felt far to big for her. Would this disguise fool Liang Qi for a second? In all honesty, no. And once she saw through this over-sized melon-shaped wig, she would be dead and -

Well, that wasn't quite true. She wouldn't be dead. She'd just be forced to fight back and kill Alphard's sister. Not that anyone would mind, but Canaan was trying to avoid doing just that. Why couldn't all of her loved ones just get along?

"Canaan," Maria hissed to her out of the corner of her mouth. "If we're using disguises, we'll have to use different names. We can't say who we really are."

The synesthete nodded. "Got it. I thought of something imaginative already."

"Are you sure, Canaan?" Her blonde friend, not not-so-blonde considering the colour of her wig, looked at her concernedly. "I know you have trouble trying to lie properly. If I could help you - "

"I'm fine, Maria." _I'm doing this for you. I can cope with this just fine the way I am right now. _"Let's get this over with."

The two of them stepped into the living room whilst Liang Qi was in the middle of ranting about why she hated synesthetes. Alphard was spread out across the couch, looking extremely bored, but then she saw Canaan and Maria and looked like she was going to choke. Her breath caught in her choke and she had to bite the side of her hand hard and clamp her other hand over her mouth.

She was virtually doubling up in laughter at the sight of the two girls. But she couldn't let Liang Qi see her laughing in case she looked too suspicious. Luckily, her sister was too engrossed in going through her long, long list of 101 Ways To Torture A Synesthete to notice.

Canaan cleared her throat, announcing their entry. Liang Qi reacted as if she had just been slapped and whirled around to face the two of them, her hand going towards her weapon, her expression venomous.

At the same time, she looked confused at their very appearance. The synesthete in the room was wearing a tussled orange-blonde wig which stuck out at several different angles at the same time. Maria had been forced to use the larger wig to cover up her beautiful blonde hair. Unfortunately, that wig had been a mixture of white and grey and black. Not only did it look completely dyed all the way down, it made her look like she'd been born from a native family of skunks.

"Liang Qi," said Alphard, after several seconds had passed and she'd finally managed to get her breathing under control once more (Canaan was still glaring at her for daring to find any of this funny in the first place), "these are my two friends that are staying over tonight."

"Friends? Staying over?" Liang Qi spat. She brought herself eye to eye with Maria, and then Canaan. The synesthete feared that at such close distance, their cover would be blown immediately. Yet no recognition registered in Liang Qi's eyes. Maybe the wigs were so atrocious that it worked. Maybe they were so bad that they were _good._

"Yes," Alphard said pressingly. She was deliberately staring at the floor, her shoulders shaking, not daring to look at the comical duo in case she went into hysterics and wasn't able to stop. "And they are - " She made the mistake of looking up at Canaan's suddenly orange head and had to wolf down a series of giggles and snorts. To cover it up she quickly went into a coughing fit, struggling to breathe. "And they are here at my request," she gasped when she had recovered, averting her eyes once more. "Liang Qi, you are to treat them with respect."

"Is that so?" her sister hissed, sniffing at Canaan suspiciously. She turned her nose away disdainfully. "Two other women. Without my knowledge? Is that an _order,_ dear sister?"

Canaan felt that at any moment her wig was going to fall off. Self-consciously, she patted her head to keep it on more securely, but then stopped when Liang Qi looked even more suspiciously at her.

"It is," Alphard said in a voice of steel to Liang Qi. "They will only be here one night. They are none of your concern."

"Oh, but they _are_ my concern," Liang Qi said dangerously, walking around Canaan in a circle, inspecting every inch of her with narrowed eyes. "Any friend of my dear sister is _surely_ a friend of mine..." She let her breath out slowly between her teeth. "We should get acquainted. Why don't you _introduce _yourselves?"

Liang Qi brought her face right up close to Canaan's until they could smell each other's skin. Canaan had a feeling that what Liang Qi was probably smelling right now was how old her wig was. "You can start first. What is your name?"

Canaan opened her mouth to rattle off the extremely imaginative fake name she had picked for her herself, for this moment. It was on the tip of her tongue.

_Shit. I can't remember what name I was going to use. It was a really good one too - _

"Answer me!" Liang Qi demanded.

"Hanaan," the synesthete said, grabbing the next closest name down her list. "I am _Hanaan._"

She almost felt Alphard bury her head in her hands by the sofa.

"You're called Hanaan," Liang Qi said in disbelief.

"That's right," Canaan said. Should I have faked my voice as well? I could do a New Zealand accent whilst I'm at it...but it's a bit too late now...

"That's a very unusual name, Hanaan." Liang Qi's tone of suspicion was skyrocketing. "You seem _very_ familiar to me..."

"Really? That's impossible," the synesthete babbled mindlessly. "We've never met before."

Liang Qi let her breath out between her teeth again. "I see...I _see._ And how is it that you know my dear sister?"

"I'm her cousin," Canaan said without thinking.

"Her cousin," Liang Qi repeated. "I've never heard Alphard speak about her cousin Hanaan before."

"We don't speak very often," the synesthete said, her mind struggling to stay in overdrive. "Sometimes she forgets I exist."

"And yet," the other woman said in growing tension, "I am her _sister_ and I know _all_ of Alphard-sama's cousins and relatives. And you are _not_ one of them."

"That's because I'm her second cousin twice-removed," Canaan said desperately. "I was separated from my real parents when I was a baby."

Liang Qi cast a questioning glance at Alphard, who was now bent double in silent laughter and refused to look up at anyone anymore in case she keeled over from the effort. With a disparaging sigh, Liang Qi glared at Canaan, then strode away from her and walked over to confront Maria.

"And _you?_" she said pointedly. "Don't think you can feel me into thinking you're her cousin as well."

"No, I'm not," Maria said quickly. "I'm a friend of – of Hanaan." She beamed and tossed her hair happily. The black and white wig almost fell off altogether and Canaan breathed a sigh of relief when it somehow stayed on intact.

"And your name?" Liang Qi enquired tersely.

"I'm Colin," Maria said proudly.

Alphard made another strangled sound behind the sofa and decided to crawl onto the floor to muffle her face into a mound of cushions. Canaan rolled her eyes and wondered how on earth they were going to get through the night like this.

"You're called Colin," Liang Qi said flatly. "That's very _unique._" One hand clawed into her fist. "Isn't Colin a boy's name?"

"It's my new name," Maria said, beaming. "You see, I had a sex change. When I was born as a boy, I was called Mabel. Now that I am a girl, I've changed my name to Colin and - "

Liang Qi relaxed her fist for a moment. Not because she believed Maria's story, but because it confused her so much that she couldn't find the girl threatening anymore.

"I _see,_" she whispered. "So. We have here Alphard-sama's mysterious long-lost second cousin Hanaan, and her friend Colin who used to be a man." She spun around on the heel of her foot to confront the leader of the Snakes. "Dear sister, are these people really - " She stopped and her face burned with rage. "_Why are you burying your face into a cushion?_ _Listen_ to me!"

Alphard clawed at her stomach to quell the last of the laughter and forced herself to put on a straight face. "Yes," she said placidly. "Yes, it's all true. Hanaan and Colin will be staying here tonight."

"Then they can stay in one of the other rooms," Liang Qi said with passion. "I will not permit any of them to stay with you tonight whilst I am here." She took a step closer to the leader of the Snakes. "Tonight, sister. I will be with you."

Alphard stared at her. "One of the other rooms?" she repeated. "To-together?"

"Yes, dear sister."

Canaan had a mental image of just how much it would tear Alphard apart to let herself and Maria sleep in the same room whilst Alphard was stuck with Liang Qi. Under her own roof. This couldn't happen. She'd promised Alphard.

But she couldn't say anything out against it. It would make Liang Qi too suspicious. She already looked like she wanted to murder them. And yet, she _had_ to say something. Alphard looked like she was going to break down on the spot in front of them. Canaan could already see her gaze lowering to the floor, her eyes darkening.

_No, I'm not going to let this happen to you, _she thought. _You've suffered enough. I'm going to put a step to the whole thing right now. I'll expose myself as Canaan in front of Liang Qi, and I'll shoot her dead before she can mess things up anymore. Right now, it's the best way. If I do it quickly, Maria won't be harmed at all._

Grimly, she reached up to pull the stupid wig off her head and reveal herself to Liang Qi.

But then -

"I've got a better idea," said Maria brightly. "Why don't we all sleep in the same room tonight?"

There was a long moment in which all of the other girls stared at her in pure horror. Canaan dropped her hand to her side and abandoned trying to throw her wig off.

"That's a good idea," Alphard commented at long last.

Canaan stared at the two of them incredulously. _Have they all gone mad? In the same room? With Liang Qi AND everyone else?_

The part of her mind which wasn't completely numbed by the whole affair hinted to her that from Alphard's point of view, everyone sleeping in the same room was nowhere near as bad as having Canaan and Maria sleep separately away from her. Even with all the downsides that came with it. They could still be close.

_But with Liang Qi. She could murder me in my sleep. This is NOT going to work. This is not happening. Please, someone tell me that this is a bad idea and - _

"If my dear sister thinks it's a good idea," Liang Qi said almost under her breath, "then I am prepared to put up with it tonight. But just this once," she breathed. "And I will be taking the bedside directly next to Alphard-sama - "

_My god, it's happening,_ Canaan thought. _I'm going to be sleeping in the same room with __Liang Qi. I'm not going to be able to get any sleep. And all of us are going to die._


	32. Chapter 32

**(One more day...and Nanowrimo will be done. And, I've just realised this is like the longest fanfic in the Canaan archive...like the next longest after this one is only 10 chapters...**

**probably cos no one else is dumb enough to write about Canaan and Alphard continuously for so long. Do you know how long it is on my computer? 108 pages. Yes. That's how long it is.**

**So is nobody sick of it yet? Still want me to write? :3 my motivation is waning...sadface.)**

* * *

They used the main guest room for the night, which comprised of several partitioned rooms separated by narrow doorways and over a dozen beds in total. It was a little bit like a small youth hostel, not that Canaan had ever had the opportunity to sleep over at one. At first she had been afraid that some of them might have had to share beds for their sleeping arrangements. That would have been wonderful if it had just Alphard and herself alone in the house as initially planned, but, in the present circumstances, not so wonderful.

Luckily, the beds were all separate and facing each other from each of the four corners of the room in a very presentable fashion. It wasn't a very big room, however, and so the beds were suspiciously close together.

Showering had been a nightmare. Canaan wasn't allowed near Alphard because Liang Qi was watching her every move, and she wasn't allowed near Maria because _Alphard_ was watching her every move. And she didn't really want to be near Liang Qi either. It was getting to be a long night.

Also, she was getting a little bit sick of wearing the wig all the time. It looked like she might have to be wearing it all night. Liang Qi must have been wondering why Maria's "hair" hadn't had all the dye washed out when she showered.

"Are you okay, Canaan?" Maria said to her out of the corner of her mouth, a towel wrapped around the wig wrapped around her real hair underneath.

"Hanaan," the synesthete corrected. "You've got to call me Hanaan whilst we're here. And no, I'm not okay." That was an understatement. She should have drowned Liang Qi in the shower or something. Like in Psycho, just to do it with style.

Now to choose who slept in which bed. This was going to take even longer. Canaan counted them off on her fingers worriedly. Let's see...she couldn't take the corner bed, because she'd be next to Alphard, and she couldn't be on the bed next to Alphard because Liang Qi would want to kill her again, and she couldn't take the bed on the _other_ side because that would be next to Maria, and if she slept next to Maria then Alphard would never look at her the same way-

Oh, great, they were _all_ corner beds. She couldn't win. Maybe she could just sleep on the floor and hope that everyone overslept the next day.

"I will be taking this bed," Alphard said shortly, climbing over to the one on the left in her dressing gown. An elegant combination of dark colours to match her hair and complexion. "I don't want anyone to bother me."

Canaan felt guilty on hearing this. However badly she had been doing, Alphard was definitely a lot worse off. _I'll make it up to you in the morning when your sister is gone,_ she promised silently. _It's the least I can do. Even though I don't know_ how_ I'll do it._

"Dear sister," Liang Qi said instantly, "I would love to join you."

The synesthete did a double-take. _Join her? In...in the same bed?_

"No," the leader of the Snakes said without even looking at her. "I want privacy tonight. In my own bed, if not my own house." She couldn't quite hide the bitterness in her tone.

Liang Qi breathed in and out harshly, masking her disappointment. "Very well," she said with an effort. "Then the bed next to yours will be mi- "

"I'm sure Hanaan can sleep next to me tonight," Alphard said. "Since we haven't seen each other for such a long time." She pointed to the far wall. "You can sleep with Colin."

Maria beamed and looked around for this new person called Colin, and then realised who Alphard was referring to.

"Me?" she said in shock. "With – with - "

"Yes," Alphard said in a tone that brooked no argument. "Neither of you will be near my bed tonight."

"Except Hanaan," Liang Qi said delicately, staring down the synesthete with an intensity that suggested that she was only just barely refraining from ripping the girl limb from limb on the spot. "How – how _lucky._ When you and Alphard-sama barely know each other." A narrow hiss escaped between her teeth, and Canaan thought she heard her spit under her breath, out of earshot, "And may it be your last."

Still not looking at anyone, Alphard slipped into her own bed and buried her head under her pillow as if wishing she was deep underground. With a sigh, Canaan did the same as everyone else climbed into their beds.

The lights went out with a soft _click, _and the room was swiftly plunged into darkness.

Long moments passed before Canaan reassured herself that Liang Qi was not going to take advantage of the lights being out and knife her to death before she'd even fallen asleep. She forced herself to relax. She should just sleep. At least _try_ to sleep.

But no, Maria was on the other side of the room next to that psycho, and the one she loved most right now was almost within arm's reach, except she couldn't go to her, couldn't touch her, couldn't reach out to embrace her and -

It was almost too much to bear. The synesthete touched briefly the barrel of the Beretta at her side. She never took it off, not even in bed. Anything could happen when you lived like she did. If she wanted, she could have gotten up and shot Liang Qi dead in an instant and allow everyone to sleep a lot quieter. Well, apart from Liang Qi obviously. What was to stop her from doing that? Was anything stopping her right now? Wouldn't it be easier?

Ironically, Liang Qi was probably thinking the same thoughts about her right now.

_I'm going to do this, _Canaan thought silently. _This may have been my idea to start off with, but I don't see why I should have to take this anymore._

She pulled the Beretta from her waist, fully loaded and prepared to activate her synesthesia -

"Hey, Canaan!" Maria said suddenly. "Want to hear a knock-knock joke?"

The synesthete hesitated in mid-kill with the gun halfway in the air. _I'm this close. I can do it. No, I can't do it. Because the atmosphere is _ruined.

"What?" Alphard groaned with the pillow still clamped over her ears. "What's going on?"

"I want to tell a knock-knock joke," Maria said jovially. "Canaan, knock knock!"

"What is wrong with you people?" Liang Qi yelled. "Can we not get some fucking _sleep?_"

"It's only been five minutes. Knock knock!"

Canaan slowly lowered her gun back into her belt. There would be time later. She couldn't exactly shoot the woman next to Maria in the middle of a knock-knock joke.

"Who's there?" she said with long-suffering anticipation.

_Click._

The lights snapped back on, Liang Qi's finger on the switch. That was one finger, one on hand. The other hand was wrapped round a nasty-looking knife that she was holding to Maria's throat as she straddled the girl on the bed, her face twisted with rage.

"Oh great," Alphard moaned, turning over, not seeing what was going on. "What now?"

"Let her go," Canaan ordered her.

Liang Qi ignored her. "Tell me why I shouldn't kill both of you fuckers right now." The knife came closer against Maria's throat, the photographer wide-eyed with fear. "I heard you! You! You called her _Canaan!_ That's it, isn't it, she's fucking _Canaan_ in the room over here and - "

"No! No!" Maria said bravely. "Hanaan! We don't know anyone called Hanaan."

"That's right," Canaan said, crossing her fingers behind her back. "You must have heard wrong. I'm _Hanaan._"

"Liar!" Liang Qi screamed. She spun towards her, her attention off the knife for an instant. "You're Canaan in disguise and you're seducing my sister! _My_ sister! You're taking her away from me!" She raised the knife above her head threateningly. "I'll fucking kill you for this, Canaan!"

"Hanaan," the synesthete corrected, hoping to at least maintain dignity to the end of this if possible. "You probably have me mixed up."

Alphard yawned by her own bed. "Liang Qi," she said sleepily, "she's _not_ Canaan. Just go to bed and stop bothering everyone."

"Bother? Bothering? Me? Why, you – her – she - " Her sister lunged out at random with the knife in an act of madness and pulled at a muscle as she sliced empty air. She howled and massaged her arm, glaring bloodshot eyes at the other three girls. "_She_ isn't Canaan, you say? _She_ isn't taking you away from me? That, her, that fucking bitch, sleeping next to _you_ – you just tell me one more fucking time that she isn't - "

"She's not Canaan," Alphard repeated. "Shut up and go to sleep."

The knife dropped from Liang Qi's trembling fingers. The lights went off for the last time. In the still silence, her sobbing echoed on into the night for several more minutes as Maria's breathing from her near-death experience slowly returned to normal. The crisis was averted. Canaan gradually relaxed the muscles in her arms and shoulders. She had been on the verge of shooting Liang Qi for sure that time...just seeing Maria in such danger put her over the edge.

She couldn't sleep after that. Over an hour later she could hear Liang Qi's soft snoring as the woman finally drifted off into slumber. Her emphasised hearing from her synesthesia told her that Maria had fallen asleep as well, somehow, although how she could possibly sleep after a knife attack like that was a wonder to her.

Canaan rolled over, trying to fall into slumber. It was impossible. Her mind was too active from the recent events of the night. And she knew she wasn't the only one awake. _Forget this. This is the last night I'm spending like this. I don't really care what happens after now anyway._

She had moved into the bed beside hers almost before she knew what she was doing at all, wrapping her arms around Alphard's waist as she eased herself against the other woman's bedclothes, her chin against her back. She felt Alphard stir and move against her in surprise, but she didn't care. Let Liang Qi discover them if she wanted. Let her try to kill her. She could deal with anything she threw at her.

"You can't sleep, can you?" Alphard said after a while. She didn't turn over or look at her, but just stayed in that same position.

"I sleep better like this."

The Snakes terrorist laughed quietly in a near-whisper. "Yet you've never tried."

Canaan didn't respond for a while, her eyelids half-closed against Alphard's hair. "Admit it. You couldn't sleep until you were with me either."

The two of them stayed like that for the entire night, their arms wrapped tightly around each other as the hours drew past, their chests moving up and down with each breath they took against each other. And for the time being, it was if there really were just the two of them alone in the room, alone in the entire house, with just each other for company.


	33. Chapter 33

**(Guys, this is the last chapter. Firstly, it completes my Nanowrimo once and for all (YAY! I've won!), and secondly I'm getting a bit fed up of this fic since I feel like it's gone for so long and basically it should come to an end soon. You know I had this fanfic planned up to Chapter 41 in my plan?**

**But because this is the last chapter...it's gonna be extra long, so it doesn't leave anyone hanging. And this fanfic is now COMPLETED.)**

* * *

_Bzzz. Bzzzzztt._

Canaan rolled over in Alphard's bed, reaching down towards her waist. _Mmm. You still feel so good. _Her fingers reached out and pressed against empty sheets and bare covers which put up no resistance. There was no one in the bed with her.

_Bzzzzzttt._

No one there, no Alphard or anyone else. The silver-haired girl awoke with a start, seeing that she was alone in the room. The wig had fallen off her head in the night, and she quickly scrambled to pick it up sleepily, before realising that it wouldn't do much use now if she'd been seen.

Groggily, she half-fell out of Alphard's bed. Yes, it was still Alphard's bed she had woken up in. She had slept with her the whole night. And now everyone else was gone. So much for her plan for her to wake up before everybody else. Liang Qi being absent was one good thing, but she didn't like not knowing where Maria had disappeared off to.

_Bzzzztttt, _her phone continued insistently.

Lying on the floor, Canaan reached out down to her waist and flipped her phone open. One text. Natsume. Was this really the time? What was Natsume bothering her about now in the morning – well, okay, it wasn't morning anymore, from the clock on the table, but -

The text read: _Have you recovered the information from Snake I told you to do in our contract?_

Canaan's body slumped against the soft carpet. Damn it. She'd forgotten all about that. Usually, she wouldn't have. Natsume was her only source of income right now, now that she wasn't in Shanghai anymore. This job was her top priority. Yet being with Alphard and Maria all day had jolted the whole affair from her mind.

First things first, however: where was everyone?

"Alphard?" she called, getting to her feet, rubbing her eyes. "Maria?" She hesitated then tried, "Colin?"

There was no answer. Still, it was a _very_ big house. Nobody would have heard her from here. With a sigh, Canaan began to make the long and laborious process of searching for her loved ones in the biggest mansion she had ever stayed over at.

It was twenty minutes before she was halfway through the floor she was already at, with no response whatsoever, before the synesthete realised that things would be a lot _easier_ if she had just used synesthesia to detect all human activity.

Really, she chided herself, she should know better by now. After all that happened, she wasn't acting like a synesthete anymore. She wasn't doing enough bounties which required her ability. It was as if she was becoming well...more human. She didn't know if she liked this strange new feeling or not.

She activated her synesthesia and detected one life source in the entire house. The colour? Canaan couldn't tell what colour it was. And there was only person whose colour she had never been able to pinpoint. Still no Maria. Maybe Maria had gone home or something like that. She could ask Alphard. In fact, Alphard would probably have insisted that Maria go home as quickly as possible.

The synesthete attempted to pinpoint Alphard's location, and discovered it was several floors down. Next to...next to...oh. The bomb. That ridiculously gigantic bomb. She relaxed as her eyes returned to their normal colour. Alphard would probably be there for a while.

_Which means that right now, I'm free to do that job Natsume wants me to do. Without Alphard knowing about it. If I can just figure out _how.

Natsume wanted her to recover some vital information on the inside of Snake that Alphard had access to, and that she probably had to get close to Alphard to get hold of it. Well, Canaan was inside the chambers of the organisation's leader. She was about as close to such information as she could possibly get. There would probably be codes and security protocol to bypass, but that had never been a real problem in the light of synesthesia.

But if Alphard caught her doing this. _I don't know how she'd react. I don't know how precious or important this information is to her. I've never cared for the details in any job I did with Natsume. I just did it, and I got paid. Why should it matter now?_

What Canaan was worried about _wasn't_ that Alphard would disapprove of what she was doing. What she was worried about was having to rely on Alphard for anything more than she already did. Including money. If she told Alphard what Natsume wanted her to do, then wouldn't Alphard try to stop her? And insist on giving her money instead? As much money as she wanted? No, she was tired of being spoilt like this. She was independent. She always had been.

She checked up on Alphard's location again. The woman was still in the bomb room. Still hadn't moved. It looked like she really _was_ going to be there a while. Maybe she really was gazing at it all day.

_All right, _Canaan decided, _I'd better do this quickly._

Natsume's instructions had been quite precise: the information at hand was only accessible to Alphard. Which meant that her first port of call would be Alphard's bedroom.

_Which_ bedroom, however. She could be here for hours and not know where to start. Yet...Canaan had seen which rooms which Alphard had been in yesterday when everyone was staying over. The ones she held in greater importance than the rest of them. Not the surveillance room upstairs which looked like some of Canaan Stalker shrine, which had fallen into disrepair. But...

The computer in Alphard's nearest room from here. The Snakes terrorist had spent a considerable amount of time in there when she had wanted to get away from everyone. Canaan had only had a glimpse inside the room herself when the door was ajar, and it had seemed quite normal...

She stepped inside there now, her eyes set on the computer at the far side of the room. Alphard's personal computer. The information Natsume wanted was on here.

_This shouldn't take too long. I just need to hack in and find a short set of codes for Natsume. I can text it back to her within minutes, before Alphard ever finds out about this. Then I can get paid and feel a bit more of my life come back together again._

Canaan walked towards the computer, her knee bumping against the drawer in the wall. She frowned and looked down against the drawer, seeing a number of peculiar objects in there that she didn't recognise.

Confused, she picked up one of them. It was shaped like...well, it was long and curved at both ends, cylindrical in nature, with a series of buttons on the side. She wasn't sure what they did. Experimentally, she pushed at one of them.

The object came to life in her hand. One end of it started to vibrate intensely, so hard that Canaan could feel it spread through the whole thing all the way down to her hand.

The synesthete dropped the object with a shock, realising what it was. _A...a vibrator?! In her bedroom? Does she...?_

Flushing at the mere thought, she pushed herself away from the drawer of objects – the drawer was _filled _with more of them, and they came in lots of different colours and designs – and started up the computer.

_Wonderful_, Canaan thought dryly as she logged in under Alphard's user name, _she's even got my face as her background wallpaper._

Hacking in was no problem. Her synesthesia had hacked into the GPS system before during the scare with the UA virus. It was child's play to decrypt her way into Alphard's computer, no matter how many defences she had to get past.

That didn't mean it wasn't tiring. Canaan was still sleepy from last night's antics, and then she had to put pressure on her powers to find the information itself. It took a lot longer than she had hoped. The amount of resources in the database on the computer was staggering – she had to sort them out in order and re-prioritise them according to ASCII code, and then that was before she was able to match Natsume's code with what she actually had in front of her -

_Finally._

A long line of extensive data code flashed up onto the screen. When decoded, it would no doubt give rise to hundreds of megabytes of information on Snake itself. Canaan could decode it herself, but she doubted she could transport the many pages of data out of the house and all the way back to Shanghai.

No, just the encryption would do. It was what Natsume had asked for, and what was in the terms of their contract. Focusing, Canaan quickly typed in the assortment of numbers and letters into her phone, addressing it directly to Natsume. Her thumb hovered over the word "Send", pausing for a moment.

"And what do _you_ think you're doing in here?"

_Shit. I took too long. Send it. Send it quickly, before she finds out -_

The synesthete cried out as Alphard stepped into the room and pulled her back by her hair roughly. Yes. I sent it to Natsume. The job's done. Now...how in the _world_ am I going to get out of this one...

"Who said you could walk right into my bedroom?" Alphard said calmly, pulling harder at her hair whilst the silver-haired girl gasped in pain.

Canaan struggled to reply. "The – the door was open - "

The Snakes terrorist laughed. "No. No, it wasn't. I should know." She whirled around and slammed the girl against the foot of her bed, hard, until the synesthete could taste blood in her mouth. "And if you're not going to tell me what you were doing in here..."

She didn't need to say. Her eyes were already shooting left and right around the entire room, analysing everything. Canaan wiped the blood from her mouth, cursing her own stupidity. Alphard was too smart to be fooled so easily. The computer was still on. The window was closed, thank goodness, but the screen still flashed.

"Hacking into my personal computer is one thing," the leader of the Snakes said. "So what were you doing on there?" Her eyes moved to the drawer next to it. "And why...why is my vibrator on the floor?"

"That was an accident!" Canaan blurted out. Well, that part was true after all. "I didn't know - "

"Really?" The older woman raised an eyebrow. "Then I hope you do now."

Canaan nodded desperately, wanting nothing more to get out of this predicament that she had gotten herself into. She'd been stupid to think that she could actually get away with doing this in Alphard's house.

Maybe...maybe if she got Alphard's attention on the vibrators, then she could get her attention _away_ from the computer. Then again, that might make things worse. A lot, lot worse. Did she dare try it?

Whichever way, she didn't have time to decide. A stinging slap defazed her as a right hand hit her right on the side of the cheek.

"You of all people should know better than to infringe on my privacy," Alphard whispered. Slap, on the other cheek. Canaan lowered her gaze, humiliated. "Don't do that again. Do you hear me?"

"Yes," Canaan said quickly. Maybe she'll let me get out of her if I just apologise. "I'm sorry."

"Good." Alphard jerked at her hair again, pulling her towards the bed. "Now get over here."

_W-what? _The silver-haired girl blinked in confusion as her lover forced her body down onto the covers. Uh-oh. That smirk. She can't do this. "Wait!" she said pleadingly. "But I said I'm sorry – I - "

"Oh, please," Alphard scoffed, pinning her wrists down against the headboard. "You really thought I was going to let you walk out of here after doing something like that?" She smirked. "I think I need to teach you a lesson this time, _Canaan._"

A set of handcuffs clipped over the synesthete's wrists, spreading them out. One wrist to each bedpost. The silver-haired girl started to panic, thrashing out and kicking desperately. She couldn't move her arms at all. She could feel Alphard taking off her top, undressing her. And worse...her body was liking it.

"This isn't fair!" she protested, straining at the handcuffs in vain. "Let me go! I won't go into your bedroom again, I swear!"

The Snakes terrorist ignored her pleas and continued to remove the rest of her clothing. Canaan's eyes widened when she saw the vibrator held firmly in her hands. She didn't look like it was her first time. There was an aura of professionalism about the way she handled the thing. All right, Canaan thought, if this _really_ is going to happen, then I'm not just going to take it like she wants me to.

"Fine!" she snapped at her, fed up of being submissive. "I'll tell you. I'm _not_ sorry I invaded your privacy. And I'd do it again if I would." She bit her lip savagely. "Do your worst."

Alphard stopped in surprise, looking down at her, and laughed. "You really mean that?"

The synesthete hesitated, wondering if she'd said too much.

"Because one thing you should know about me, Canaan," the leader of the Snakes said, "is that...there are no limits." She turned on the vibrator to medium level and laid it by Canaan's thighs, watching. "Take back what you said right now, and I won't be cruel. I might even forgive you."

Canaan paused, but her pride refused to back down any longer.

"No," she said daringly. "Just _try._"

Alphard sighed. "Fine," she said. "I did warn you." She pushed the vibrator inside her lover, and the synesthete's body jerked as the vibrations hit inside her, provoking a strangled gasp. "Just high enough to keep you on edge, but not high enough for you to climax." She shrugged and got to her feet, walking off towards the door.

"W-wait..." Canaan gasped, sprawled out naked on the bed as the vibrator continued to do its work. "You can't just...leave..."

Alphard gave her a withering look. "No, Canaan, _you_ can't just barge into my room whenever you like. And right now, you're going to be lying on my bed for the next three hours unable to climax wishing you hadn't done that." She turned away. "I'm also going to lock you in."

"No! Please!" Three hours like _this? _Canaan didn't know if she could bear feeling like this for so long. "I...I'm sorry! I really am! Don't just leave me like - "

"Too late," Alphard said flatly, and closed the door behind her, locking it behind her.

The key turned in the lock as she left.

_Shit._

Canaan writhed on the bed in a mixture of agony and ecstasy. It had only been five minutes, and she was already gasping and panting at every turn. She was trying not to, but she couldn't help it. Three hours like this...Alphard couldn't be serious...

Maybe if she could get free? She strained at the cuffs again, but they still wouldn't give. The vibrator wasn't going to come out either no matter how much she thrashed around. No, Alphard had known exactly what she was doing. She was good at teasing.

Maybe the batteries in the vibrator would have given out by then. She could hope. Then again, this was Alphard they were talking about.

Canaan moaned into the side of the pillow, and settled herself for a long wait.

* * *

It was actually only half an hour later when Alphard came to get her. But it felt like three hours had already passed for the tortured girl on the bed. She twisted and turned on the bed against her cuffs in vain, and thought she would almost die from relief when she heard the key turn in the lock again.

The vibrator clicked off and went silent all at once. Canaan moaned and fell back, quivering. In some ways this made it feel even worse.

"Have you learned your lesson?" Alphard said, sitting by the side of the bed.

Canaan nodded glumly. "Please..."

"Good. I'm going to uncuff you."

She felt her wrists released from the bedposts, and rubbed the red lines around them. They felt sore from the last half hour, especially when she'd been really desperate to escape. But god, the way she felt _now_ when she still wasn't allowed to climax...

"I didn't say you could leave." The older woman's tone of voice kept her in check. "I still haven't finished with you."

Canaan didn't understand what she meant, even when she saw Alphard removing her jacket and even her suspenders completely. Then the leader of the Snakes climbed onto the bed with her, capturing her mouth in a fierce kiss. In that moment, Canaan felt an irrepressible urge to return the favour. And more. A lot more. She had been wanting to for a very long time, and not just because Alphard had kept her on edge for such a long time.

A whisper escaped between her teeth as Canaan managed to pull her lips away from her, and moved her tongue across Alphard's neck. Maybe she wasn't as proficient or as experienced as her lover, but something in the way she did it made the other woman stiffen and tense as her mouth sucked and bit at her throat deeply. Her hands moved upwards above her waist, pressing down against her breasts.

_It's my turn._

She moved her lips down along with her hands, pushing them apart and licking over Alphard's nipples, feeling the sharp intake of breath as she sucked, doing just as Alphard had done to her, but in her own unique style. She wanted to touch and feel her in her own way. Her fingers pushed at her lover's thighs, separating them enough to feel the faint wetness within. Licking upwards, almost teasingly at the other nipple, feeling Alphard try to force her other hand away from her crotch, but not letting her. Not this time. She was too far over the edge to stop now.

She moved her head down across Alphard's body, feeling the older woman's hand on her butt, caressing and digging her nails into her the way she liked it, and made thorough use of her tongue the whole way down. Canaan could feel her moan now, though she fought to hide it. She pulled away the last of what remained of Alphard's clothing and pushed her tongue through into her, licking slowly, tenderly.

She felt Alphard cry out at first, then murmur something to her as Canaan felt her head being pushed harder against her, more dominant, Alphard's hips more reactive to her tongue. She licked forward and around, feeling Alphard's own fingers move their own way up between her legs. They were already welcome after the work of the vibrator, and she thrived on their movement. As Canaan felt them accelerate, her body moved in accentuated excitement, motivating her tongue to move faster as well. Her hand moved up Alphard's body at the same time, gripping her right breast, scratching and clawing as she stroked her nipple and pressed in deeply.

The moans became more vocal from Alphard as Canaan dug her tongue in even deeper, burying her face into her. She felt her head rammed up against the bedstead as Alphard climaxed and the juices came flooding across her face, the leader of the Snakes crying out in pleasure. Canaan inadvertently swallowed a large amount of the juices, but she didn't mind. She felt the rest of it smeared across her face as she struggled on the bed, struggled to climax herself. She was so close -

Abruptly, Alphard pushed her body aside, pulling her fingers out of her, dripping. The synesthete gasped, her face still wet from her fluids. _She's pulling out before she's finished? What is she..._

"What are you doing?!" she demanded. "I was - "

Her voice was cut off as the Snakes terrorist hit her and forced back on the bed again, straddling her, looking down at her dominantly.

"Alphard, please - "

"You'll get your chance," the leader of the Snakes smiled. "I'm just going to go for something a bit different."

She was helpless to resist as Alphard pulled open the bottom drawer and pulled out...what was _that?_ It was some kind of belt, with a phallus-shaped object on the side which..._wait that's a strap-on. She's not going to...she's not going to use -_

Her thoughts died in her throat as Alphard strapped the device around her waist, grabbing her around the throat and forcing up against the bedroom wall. The tip of the dildo brushed against the inside of her thighs.

"Alphard," Canaan said weakly, but she didn't need to speak.

"I just want to make sure of something," her lover whispered. "Something I'm serious about. And that's that some girls aren't into strap-ons or sex toys, because some think it's too much like being done by a man." Her voice was filled with genuine concern. "If you don't like it, please tell me, okay? Canaan?"

She was waiting for her to answer. The synesthete nodded. "It's fine," she breathed.

"Good." The evil smirk across Alphard's face came back as her dominant side came back in the blink of an eye. "Now, this is how we do it rough."

The first thrust slammed into Canaan hard, plunging into her and forcing a desperate moan from her throat as pleasure shot through her body. From then on, every other thrust felt harder in comparison. Alphard was using the brunt of her thigh muscles to fuck her at high speed, nailing Canaan to the wall as she was pinned there paralysed, Alphard's legs naked against her own. To make it worse, she could feel her bare breasts being caressed and teased at the same time. She couldn't take much more.

She cried out harder and harder, Alphard's name on her lips as her cries rolled into screams. The thrusts died down as Alphard felt her come harder than she ever had before, dripping onto the dildo itself, soaking against the wallpaper. Canaan gasped and moaned and just flopped into Alphard's arms.

"I...I can't..." she whispered. "I can't breathe..."

Alphard smirked and carried her over to the bed, depositing her there and kissing her hard on the cheek. It didn't matter what was on her face.

"You know what sounds good now?" she said. "Breakfast."

Canaan turned over on the bed. Maybe she was messing it up with the mixture of liquids on her body right now, but nobody was going to care. "It's afternoon," she groaned. "And you can't just do this to me and just say _let's eat _and - "

"Hey, I wasn't the only one doing it," Alphard quipped. "And I damn well can." She hit her rump, hard. "Come on. We've got stuff to do."

* * *

"Canaan," Natsume said in her ever-businesslike tone as they faced each other at the street corner. "You're looking well."

They were meeting in Shanghai for the last time in quite a long while. For once, it was Canaan who had requested it. Not only had she asked that Natsume be here, but also Maria. Yun-Yun, however...okay, she wasn't sure why Yun-Yun was here. She just _was._

"Thanks," Canaan said uncomfortably. Small talk. Was that what it was? She still didn't understand that part of society. Alphard didn't, either. They both liked to get down to business. "Natsume, was the information I sent you of any use?"

The Japanese woman regarded her for a few moments as if trying to analyse her interior motives. Then she said, "It was sufficient for our purposes. As agreed, here is your payment." She tossed a large bulging envelope to Canaan which the synesthete caught in one hand without moving. "I noticed you requested a bonus, which I included. And your reasons..."

"Yes."

"Your reasons were...you said that this is the last contract you will do with me." Natsume folded her arms, cocking her head over to one side. "You are probably the best mercenary we have working for us. And you want to quit?"

Maria looked startled too. "Canaan, you're _quitting?_"

"I have already quit." Canaan sighed and turned back to the other woman. "I can't do this for you anymore, Natsume. Not when you're going to continually target Snake and...and Alphard. But that's not what I came to talk about. I still want to continue my job as a bounty hunter. So..."

Natsume nodded in agreement. "Very well. You still wish to retain contracts with some of my contacts in the organisation." She closed her eyes as if considering a refusal, then seemed to give in. "I will make the necessary arrangements. I take it, then, that we will not be crossing paths again for some time."

"I'm afraid not, Natsume." Canaan shook her head. "I'm with Alphard now."

"I see." Natsume adjusted her glasses superficially. "You love her?"

The synesthete's voice trembled. "I do. We're living together now. At first I wasn't altogether comfortable with that, but...I can still keep doing what I've always done. And so can she." She smiled. "And in the end, it still always works out between us."

Natsume looked at her with an unreadable expression. "Canaan, I would wish you luck, but I'm not going to."

The synesthete frowned. "Why not?"

"The reasons are unknown," the Japanese woman said mysteriously.

"But why aren't you wishing me luck? You don't want to?"

"I _do_ want to wish you luck," Natsume said coldly, "but for reasons unknown, I am not going to."

Canaan exchanged glances with Maria, hoping for an explanation. She found none. The photographer was just as confused as she was.

"You don't make sense," the synesthete said directly. "If you're not going to wish me luck, then why are you saying so at all?"

"I don't know," Natsume said bluntly. "Why are your two friends here? Are they overseeing our conversation?"

"Because I wanted to see Maria," the synesthete retorted. She looked at Yun-Yun, bewildered. "Why are _you_ here?"

Yun-Yun shrugged. "I was following Maria."

"Maria, why is Yun-Yun here?"

"She was following me," Maria said awkwardly.

Yun-Yun rolled her eyes. "That's what I just said. Honestly, Canaan. You just don't listen. You're supposed to be a synesthete too." Her eyes suddenly grew wide. "Ooh, Canaan! I just remembered something! There was something I was going to tell you!"

"What?" the silver-haired girl said wearily.

"You remember when we got lost trying to find Snake Headquarters, and we were stuck in that tube, and you went one way, and I went another?" the Borner chattered excitedly. "Do you want to know where I went?"

"Not really..."

"To the _gymnasium!_" Yun-Yun beamed. "And we played volleyball."

Canaan looked hopefully at Maria and Natsume. They looked back at her blankly.

"Right," she said to Yun-Yun. "And...that's the important thing you had to tell me."

"Yep," the Borner said confidently. "That's all I came to tell you. Now I must be on my way. I'm going to be a sailor."

"I thought you were already were a sailor."

"I am. I am. I'm going to be another one." Yun-Yun skipped off into the distance down the street, disappearing into the crowds. She vanished completely in the rabble, which closed itself around her.

"So, Maria?" Canaan said to the last of her friends standing here. "Do you - "

Her friend reached out over to her and hugged her tightly.

"Of course you can do whatever you want, Canaan," she said with emotion. "You're my best friend." She blinked away tears. "But...you're going to be away for a while, aren't you? Because you're with Alphard? And...and I know she doesn't like me being there. So does this mean - "

"Oh, Maria, of _course_ we can see each other again," the synesthete said. "You just have to ring me. Alphard doesn't control me all the time." She grinned. "She just likes to, though. I just want to tell you that if I ever want to call on you, then - "

"Of course," Maria said breathlessly. "Any time."

Natsume regarded the pair of them with distaste. "I don't understand friendship," she said.

"I'll be your friend," Maria offered.

"Or love," Natsume continued.

"I'll ask Minoru to pretend to love you."

"Or crisps," the Japanese said especially bitterly. "Or McDonalds. Or unicorns."

"Unicorns aren't real," Canaan said.

Maria gasped. "They are."

Natsume sighed. "I understand everything else in the world. Everything. Just not any of those."

"Then," Canaan declared, "I think you'll do just _fine._" She turned around as the noise of a helicopter became louder and louder in their ears. A chopper descending just behind them. A very familiar one.

_Alphard._

"Go to her," Maria said with a smile.

Canaan hugged her again, and then turned towards her dark-haired lover descending out of the cockpit to meet her, her heart warmed from her appearance alone. She ran forth towards her, the source of her happiness in this world, reaching out with one hand and -

* * *

"Can I just say one thing," Natsume interrupted.

The synesthete paused in the middle of her romance scene, irritated. "What?" she snapped.

"Are you _ever_ going to kill Liang Qi?"

Canaan glared at her. "I'll do it another day."

"Sure," said the Japanese woman, nodding. "I look forward to it." She waved an arm off towards her. "That's all I was going to say."

* * *

**(And ta-da, that's all done. Thank you so much for all of my reviewers, followers AND favourites! And even to anyone who even contributed a single view to this! I really wouldn't have done any of this without you...in fact I wouldn't have even started this if someone hadn't reviewed my other one-shot.**

**If anyone's interested, here's what was in my original plan, which went on way longer: After last chapter, it turns out Liang Qi has discovered Canaan and Maria's true identities, goes mental, and kidnaps Maria and puts her in her dungeon. yes, they have a dungeon. And Alphard has to get her to see sense and rescue her. And then there's the lemon thing that happens in this one. And then Natsume phones Canaan later and tells her that the information she texted her was corrupted and she needs to get the real one. So Canaan asks Yun-Yun to get it for her. And then Yun-Yun gets caught getting the information, by Liang Qi. And then Canaan has to get her out of this mess. And eventually gets to text the real info back to Natsume. HOWEVER, Natsume can track the information back to the location of Snake HQ, so sends her men in to capture Alphard, and then they have to run away and flee back to Shanghai, and then...**

**You see, it goes on and on. So I stopped it here because I want to write a fanfic for something like Noir or one of my other yuri ships, I dunno whether I'll ever do that though.**

**And really, Alphard's idea of rough sex probably goes beyond what I wrote in this chapter, cos I have a good imagination ;) but I just put that. Tired out from my sister's birthday meal today.**

**So there you go. All done. -bows- Thank you and good night.)**


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